NCPA May Festival 2017
Venue
Dates
Duration
Approximate 120 minsProgramme
Artist
Presenter
Adaptation from Overture to Die Fledermaus | Johann Strauss Jr. |
Sonata for Cello and Piano in D minor, Op. 40 | Shostakovich |
Movement Ⅰ | |
Movement Ⅱ | |
Cellist: QIN Liwei | |
Pianist: SUN Yingdi | |
Piano Trio No. 1 in D minor, Op. 49 | Mendelssohn |
Movement Ⅰ | |
China Trio (LÜ Siqing, QIN Liwei, SUN Yingdi) | |
Excerpt from La Traviata | Verdi |
8 French Cellists | |
——Intermission—— | |
Passacaille | |
Violinist: LÜ Siqing | |
Cellist: ZHAO Jing | |
String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, “Death and the Maiden”, D810 | Franz Schubert |
Movement Ⅰ | |
The Shanghai Quartet | |
Piano Quintet No. 2 in A major, Op. 81 | Dvorak |
Movement Ⅰ | |
The Shanghai Quartet, CHEN Sa | |
Marimba Spiritual | |
LI Biao Percussion Troupe | |
Three pieces of Astor Piazzolla | |
LI Biao Percussion Troupe | |
——Intermission—— | |
Violin Concerto in A minor, BWV 1041 | Bach |
LÜ Siqing and China NCPA Orchestra | |
Divertimento in D Major, K. 136 | Mozart |
China NCPA Orchestra | |
Conductor: YUAN Ding |
Over the past decade, CHEN Sa has established herself as one of the most charismatic pianists of her generation. She earned critical acclaims at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000 and the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2005 which began her professional performing career, bringing her evocative performances to audience around the world.
In recent years, CHEN has performed with many prestigious orchestras, some of which are the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, WDR Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, NHK Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and with renowned conductors including Sir Simon Rattle, Myung-Whun Chung, Semyon Bychkov, Fabio Luisi, Vasily Petrenko, YU Long among many others.
As an enthusiastic chamber musician, CHEN frequently collaborates with many great musicians. She appeared with Gidon Kremer and Natalie Gutman on many tours and music festivals including the prestigious Schleswig Holstein Festival, the Rurl Piano Festival in Germany, the Lockenhaus Music Festival in Austria and the Aix-en-Provence Festival in France.
CHEN recorded her first studio album Chopin Impression for JVC in 2001, and later the Chopin Complete Waltzes for IMC in Japan in 2006. Harmonia Mundi released her live performance recording from the Van Cliburn competition worldwide in 2005. Her albums with PENTATONE include Chopin: The 2 Piano Concertos and Russian Solo Compositions released in 2008 and 2009 respectively. Classical FM selected her Chopin Album as the "Best CD of the Month" for her "soulful performance". The concerto album, Rachmaninov's Concerto No. 2 and Grieg's Piano Concerto was released in 2011. Her latest album Memories Lost featuring modern Chinese compositions has been released worldwide by BIS record in January 2015, described as "the most interesting and successful recording of new Chinese music..." by BBC Music Magazine.
CHEN is a Steinway Artist. She has been nominated for the esteemed Tokyo series "The 100 Greatest Pianists" and as the cover artist of the launching issue of Gramophone magazine Chinese edition. In 2009 CHEN was named by the French magazine L'OFFICIEL as one of the "Top ten Chinese Artists". In 2010, the Polish Government honored the Chopin Art Passport to CHEN, appreciating her unique interpretation and achievement in Chopin's music.
Aside from her performance schedule, Sa engages herself in charity work too. In 2007, she was invited by the World Bank and the Norwegian government to premiere the multimedia piano concerto Green Call with the China National Symphony Orchestra in Beijing as part of the environmental protection educational program. She also visits and performs for the students who almost lost their ability to hear at local Special schools in China and on 22nd April 2015, she gave performance in Washington as part of the "Global Citizen 2015 Earth Day" event.
Born in China, CHEN grew up in a musical family. Her mother is a professional dancer and her father is a French horn player. She received her first violin lesson from her father at the age of six and started her piano lessons with Prof. DAN Zhaoyi at age of nine. She appeared as the youngest contestant at the age of 16 at the 12th Leeds International Piano Competition and won the fourth prize. The year after, she received a full scholarship to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Prof. Joan Havill in London and received her Master’s Degree in Performance. In 2000, she placed Fourth and the Best Polonaise Performance Award at the 14th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw and received the Crystal Award at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the year of 2005. CHEN graduated from Arie Vardi's Solo Class at the Hannover Hochschule für Musik und Theater in Germany in 2007, received her PhD in Performance.
In the 2015/16 season, CHEN maintained an intensive schedule, including a 22-recital tour in Germany, a 13-recital tour in China, concerto performances with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, debut recital at the Prague Spring Festival, recital at Sala Verdi in Milan and chamber performances at the Bad Kissingen Festival in Germany and the Le French May Festival in Hong Kong.
LI Biao began appearing on the stage as a conductor in 2011. Maestro Christoph Eschenbach and Lawrence Foster have given him great inspiration and support at the beginning of his conductor career. In 2012, Beijing Symphony Orchestra named LI Biao the Artist-in-Residence and Principal Guest Conductor. In 2014, LI Biao has been appointed Music Director and Principal Conductor of China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater Orchestra.
As conductor, he has worked with more than 20 orchestras in Europe and China from 2011, such as Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic Orchestra, Marseille Opera Orchestra, Philharmonie der Nord-Westfalen, Neue-Brandenburg Philharmonie, Orchestra Dell‘Opera Di Parma, WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, Loh-Orchester Sonders Sondershausen, and many of China's famous symphony orchestras.
In 2013, LI was invited to conduct Arturo Toscanini Philharmonic Orchestra for the opening concert in the 200th anniversary of Verdi's music festival. As the first Chinese conductor, he successfully conducted all Verdi's works in the whole concert, and received Italian media critical acclaim. In April 2014, LI Biao worked together with Central Conservatory of Music School opera centre, completed the Opera production of Aida in Beijing Poly Theatre with great success.
From May to June of 2014, LI Biao percussion group made debut tour to South America. The group has performed three weeks throughout the most prestigious venue in South America such as Teatro Solis (Montevideo, Uruguay), Teatro Municipal De Santiago (Santiago, Chile), Theatro Municipal do Rio de Janeiro (Rio, Brazil), Teatro Colon (Buenos Aires, Argentina), Sociedade de Cultura Artística and Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo (Bogota, Columbia). The tour was a huge success and at the end of the tour, the presenters have invited the group back for a 2016 tour. Due to the successful debut in South America, LI Biao percussion group has also received the invitation to tour Mexico in 2015. LI Biao percussion group then continued tour in China in July, 2014. At the end of 2014, LI Biao also performed as soloist with Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra.
Apart from many engagements with percussion soloist and ensemble, LI Biao also had many conducting concerts. He conducted the Macao Orchestra in 2nd half of 2014 and continued conducting European orchestras. He has also orchestras such as Brasileira Sinfonica Orquestra, Argentina symphony orchestras, etc.
First Violin: LI Weigang
Second Violin: JIANG Yiwen
Viola: LI Honggang
Cello: Nicholas Tzavaras
The Shanghai Quartet is a string quartet that formed in 1983. The quartet is made up of four members: first violinist LI Weigang, second violinist JIANG Yiwen, violist LI Honggang, and cellist Nicholas Tzavaras.
The group's tours have included North America, South America, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe. They have appeared frequently at New York's Carnegie Hall, and their travels have taken them from London, Vienna and Prague, to Australia's Sydney Opera House. Among their performances, the Shanghai Quartet has developed a long list of performance collaborators including Yo-Yo Ma, David Soyer, Eugenia Zukerman, Sharon Isbin, Ruth Laredo, Arnold Steinhardt, and Chanticleer. Its vast repertory covers many works by Asian-born composers like Bright Sheng, Toru Takemitsu, ZHOU Long, WANG Jienhong, XUE Chengqian, and ZHANG Jingping, as well as a mixture of 20th century works by composers like Tippett, Maxwell Davies, Reich, Roberto Sierra, Penderecki, Hovhaness, Ginastera, and jazz artist Dick Hyman. But it has also embraced much of the standard repertory, playing large chunks of the outputs of J.S. Bach and Beethoven and works by Mendelssohn, Brahms, Dvorák, Ravel, and many others. The Shanghai Quartet's concert schedule typically includes a geographical mixture of locales across Asia, Europe, the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand. It has made more than 20 recordings for a variety of labels, including Delos, BIS, Camerata Records, and New Albion.
The Quartet is the "Ensemble-in-Residence" at Montclair State University. They also serve as visiting professors at the Shanghai Conservatory and the Central Conservatory in China.
Box officeNorth Gate of NCPA, No. 2 West Chang'an Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing, China
Tickets collection hours9:30-19:30 (CST) on performance day
9:30-18:00 (CST) for days without performance
Booking line+86 10 6655 0000
Booking hours9:30-18:00 (CST) Monday to Friday
We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of the information, however the hours, prices, and program details may vary due to last minute changes.
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Dedicated to the staging of epic operas, ballets and dance dramas, the golden Opera House is considered the centerpiece of the NCPA. Its main tone is golden color, which looks glamorous and splendid. In the auditorium are the stalls and three higher levels of balconies, which can seat an audience of 2,207, including the venue of SRO. It is equipped with a modern stage that can be moved up/down/backward/forward or rotated, a ballet stage that can slant, and a rising orchestra pit for the triple winds orchestra. All the cutting-edge staging mechanism provides artists with enormous possibilities of creative performance.
Dedicated to the staging of epic operas, ballets and dance dramas, the golden Opera House is considered the centerpiece of the NCPA. Its main tone is golden color, which looks glamorous and splendid. In the auditorium are the stalls and three higher levels of balconies, which can seat an audience of 2,207, including the venue of SRO. It is equipped with a modern stage that can be moved up/down/backward/forward or rotated, a ballet stage that can slant, and a rising orchestra pit for the triple winds orchestra. All the cutting-edge staging mechanism provides artists with enormous possibilities of creative performance.