Programme

Arr.: WANG Fujian
Yangge for Chinese Orchestra

Music: WU Yan
The Stories Under the Walls, from Chinese Orchestral Suite The Central Axis of Beijing

Music: LIU Tianhua
Arr.: YAN Huichang
New Year's Eve for Chinese Orchestra

Music: XU Changjun
Dragon Dance for Percussion Instruments and Orchestra
Lead Percussionist: SONG Yibo

Music: ZHANG Weiliang
Dreamworld for Dizi and Orchestra
Dizi Artist: ZHANG Weiliang

Arr.: CHEN Jun, LI Hongxiao
Celebrating the Chinese New Year for Chinese Orchestra

Music: ZHAO Jiping
The Family Legend: The Moon at Dawn over Lugou Bridge for Chinese Orchestra

Music: GUAN Naizhong
New Year’s Eve from Erhu Concerto Nostalgic Dreams of Beijing
Composed by GUAN Naizhong
Erhu Artist: SONG Fei

Music: LIU Wenjin
My Motherland for Chinese Orchestra


Conductor

ZHANG Ming
ZHANG Ming is Permanent Conductor of Beijing Chinese Orchestra, Director of Conducting Committee of China Nationalities Orchestra Society, Permanent Conductor of Junior National Orchestra of Middle School Attached to China Conservatory of Music, Permanent Conductor of National Orchestra of National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts and Artistic Director of “Buyiyuehu” Chinese National Chamber Orchestra. ZHANG studied with Professor YANG Youqing, and graduated from Conducting Department of China Conservatory of Music in 2018.

In recent years, ZHANG Ming has conducted concerts including “Pamper Imagination of New National Gateway”, “Eight Scenic Spots of Yenching”, “Grand Ceremony National Music · Night of Climax”, “The Dream of Red Mansions”, “Echoes of the Silk Road”, “Affection with the North”, “Red Journey”, “Chasing Dream of Beijing”, “Zootopia”, “Night of Beijing· Love for Prairie”, “Grand Music and Brilliant Chapter”, “Ode to Beijing”, “Four Seasons of China” and so on. He has also recorded the traditional Chinese music dramas A Moonlit Night on The Spring River, The Five Elements, Songs along the Way in the Southern Region, Dream of the Western Regions and many other new works. In 2017, he premiered the national orchestral version of Chasing Dream of Beijing rearranged by GUAN Naizhong, thereby drawing on a lot of works and gaining professional experience.

Artists

SONG Fei
SONG Fei is a famous huqin artist, educator, and doctoral and master’s supervisor. She has worked with the Central National Traditional Orchestra and the China Conservatory of Music. She is Professor and Vice President of the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. She is the seventh and eighth Vice Chairman of the Chinese Musicians Association (CMA), Director of the Performing Arts Committee and President of the Erhu Society of CMA. She has been awarded the special allowance for outstanding contribution by the State Council and has been honoured as one of the “Young and Middle-aged Artists with Both Professional Excellence and Moral Integrity”. She is a Great Wall Scholar of Beijing City, a “Leading Talent in Literature and Arts” under the “High-level Innovative and Entrepreneurial Talent Support Program”, and one of the “Four Kinds of Talents in the First Batch” and the “Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talents”. She has won major awards such as the first prize in the professional erhu group at the first “ART” Cup International Competition, the China “Gold Record” Award and the Outstanding Traditional Chinese Music Performer Award.

SONG Fei has studied playing different Chinese instruments with many masters of traditional Chinese music. She is a representative of the backbone force of contemporary traditional Chinese music scene. She has premiered over 60 new works, published a dozen solo albums and recorded dozens of erhu teaching materials with a wide influence. Her representative innovative works for the stage include The Charm of Traditional Chinese Instruments: Solo Concert for the centenary of the birth of LIU Tianhua, 13 Stringed Instruments, the scenario concert of the unaccompanied suite The Dream of Tathāgata, the scenario concert of Chinese Symphonic Picture Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival, Chasing Dreams and The Charm of Song Poems for erhu and Chinese orchestra. In terms of teaching management, she upholds the educational philosophy of “adhering to tradition, strengthening the foundation, emphasizing practice and promoting innovation”. She has hosted and organized several festivals for Chinese bowed string instrument performance. She has been leading the development of the art of playing the Chinese bowed string instruments through her exploration of performance, teaching and research. She has pioneered a unique “bilingual” teaching model for erhu, inventing an erhu teaching method emphasizing the integration of “hand, brain, heart and body”. She has also developed innovative courses such as Standing Performance and Stage Performance on the Huqin, and Section Training and Ensemble Training on the Huqin, producing a number of talented students who have won gold medals.

SONG Fei’s virtuosity on erhu is a model of exquisite technique and perfect interpretation, which combines the best of all schools and blends tradition and modernity. She has been described by the media as “China’s Queen of the Erhu” and “China’s most internationally acclaimed contemporary erhu player”.

ZHANG Weiliang
ZHANG Weiliang is a well-known artist of Dizi (Chinese transverse flute) , Xiao (Chinese vertical end-blown flute) and Xun (Globular Vessel Flute), educator, composer, professor and supervisor of the China Conservatory of Music. He is also the President of the Chinese Bamboo Flute Society and a senior professional title judge of the Ministry of Culture. He has served as Deputy Director of the Ethnic Music Committee and Executive Director of the CMA, and Head of the Department of Chinese Music at the China Conservatory of Music.

In 2015, he received the "Master Teacher Award for High-level Innovative Talents" in Beijing. In 2014, he was awarded the first prize for national teaching achievements by the Ministry of Education. In 2011, he was awarded the title of "Master Teacher" in Beijing. In 2010, he was honoured as a model worker in Beijing. In the same year, he won the title of Outstanding Leader of "Traditional Chinese Instrumental Music Teaching Team" by the Chinese Ministry of Education.

In 2010, he won the Excellent Award at the National Chinese Instrumental Music Composition Competition by the Ministry of Culture for Tears for Flowers. In 2008, he composed the music for the opening ceremony of the 29^th Olympic Games. In 2003, his Bamboo Dream won the first prize for music composition in the National Dance Competition by the Ministry of Culture. In 2002, his guzheng and electronic music Waves in Autumn won the first prize of CCTV’s Xinguang Award. In the same year, he won the Award of Professional Excellence & Moral Integrity in Beijing. In 2001, the dance Destiny, for which he had composed the music, won the gold medal at the World Dance Competition in Russia. In 2000, the dance Deep in the Courtyard, for which he had composed the music, won the first prize at the China TV Dance Competition; in 1987, he published China's first laser record, The World of Xiao (CCD8701), which won the China Gold Record Award. His The Beauty of Southern China, a Dizi solo piece, won the third prize in the Sixth National Instrumental Music Composition Competition. He won the first prize in the National Traditional Chinese Stringed and Woodwind Instrument Competition in 1987, 2009 and 2011 respectively. In 1982, he carried off the first prize in the National Ethnic Instrumental Music Competition (Dizi Group) by the Ministry of Culture.

He has given three solo concerts at the Royal Albert Hall, collaborated with the Lyon Centre for Electronic Music in France on electronic music production, and given concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Hall in the US, Verdi Hall in Milan, Messiaen Hall in Paris, the Wiener Musikverein, Philharmonie Luxembourg and the Cairo Opera House in Egypt. He has also travelled to dozens of countries in Europe, Asia, America and Africa to give concerts.

He has published four books, including Studies in the Art of the Bamboo Flute and A Tutorial on Playing Chinese Bamboo Flute. He has also published more than ten papers in national-level journals, including A Perspective on the Development of Chinese Flute Music Culture, ZHANG Weiliang Talks about the Development of Chinese Music, and Reflections on the Reform of Art Colleges.

His recordings include The World of the Xiao, ZHANG Weiliang’s Art of Pipe-playing, Tears for Flowers, Dying Young, Dream after A Long Separation, Joyful Reunion, Asking for Love, The Heavenly Sound of Xiao, Of Heaven and Earth, Infatuation for Dizi, Tea Drops, Red Leaves, Taste Zen in Tea, Poetics of Tea, A New Song of Herdsman, Butterfly Dreams, Love of Eagle, Floating Clouds and Flowing Water, Fishing Boat in the Evening, Wilderness, Fulfilling the Dream, Xiao’s Narrative, and so forth. He has composed more than 120 works of various kinds.

SONG Yibo
SONG Yibo is a percussionist, assistant to the director and principal percussionist of the Beijing Chinese Orchestra, member of the Percussion Professional Committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society and member of the Chinese Percussion Society of the Chinese Musicians Association.

She has attended the Central Conservatory of Music and the Graduate School of the China Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Professors LI Zhengui, WANG Jianhua and WANG Yidong.

SONG was the scenarist-director and lead performer of the Beijing Performance Week at the 2009 Shanghai World Expo, the scenarist-director and lead performer of the Closing Ceremony of the 2010 Asian Para Games, the percussion director and lead performer of Ten Thousand Horses Galloping at the 2014 CCTV Spring Festival Gala. In 2019, she led the Jiumu Percussion Ensemble to participate the second season of Chinese Music Grand Ceremony and won the annual championship. Her representative works include Inspiring China and The Harmonic Sounds of Drums.


Presenter

Beijing Chinese Orchestra
Affiliated with the Beijing Performing Arts Group, the Beijing Chinese Orchestra was founded in September 2015. It was formerly known as the Beijing Opera and Drama Dance Theatre, one of Beijing’s municipal performing arts troupes.

The orchestra has presented large-scale Chinese music concerts, such as Echoes of Beijing, Beijing Dreams, Feelings for the Capital City, Brilliant Chinese Music and Chinese Music Festival, and produced Chinese orchestral works including Eight Scenes in Beijing and Visions of China. Meanwhile, the orchestra continues to innovate in the form of performance, creating and launching a series of stylish performances, including the multimedia concert Five Elements, percussion children’s drama Looking for the Last Drop of Water, Chinese musical A Moonlit Night on the Spring River, modern Chinese music concert Chanting of the Land, and interactive concert Zootopia.

“The New Year’s Chinese Music Concert”, “Anniversary Concert”, “Young Heroes”, and “Four Seasons in China” series concerts have been held for many years as the flagship performance of the orchestra. “The Beijing Drum Festival”, a branded event created by the orchestra, has also been held for four consecutive years during the National Day holiday. “Jiuyue Chamber Ensemble” and “Jiumu Percussion Ensemble”, the orchestra’s two influential performing groups, have performed at major foreign events. The well-received repertoire of the orchestra covers chamber music pieces, such as One Night in Beijing, Summer palace, Joyance, and Quicksand, as well as percussion music pieces such as Harmonious Drumbeats, Ten Thousand Horses Gallop, Grand Music, and Drum Music for China.

In recent years, the orchestra has seen an influx of emerging talents. Young musicians SONG Yibo, DU Pengpeng, ZHENG Yang, SHANG Zhongyuan, LI Yuhan, WANG Jingjing, NING Yingjie, YU Haiyin, and ZHOU Jiao have displayed their talents in many large-scale performances.

Having its roots in Beijing, the Beijing Chinese Orchestra will produce Chinese music with Beijing characteristics for China and our world, carry forward traditional Chinese culture, make innovations and contribute to the development of Beijing as a National Cultural Centre.

With Chinese music as its basis, we walk with the youth; with the charm of traditional music, we convey the voice of China.