Traditional Chinese musicians highlight concert hall's new season
Shanghai Concert Hall unveiled its new season's performances between September and December and launched a WeChat mini program for tickets, merchandise and membership events.
The concert hall, almost a century old, is set for a refreshing fall and winter with a diverse repertoire that includes a series of concerts from China's up-and-coming Gen-Z musicians.
Percussionist Zhang Fang was crowned the BBC's "Young Musician 2020" at the age of 17 and will lay down his passionate beats in a concert with friends on October 29.
Pianist Rao Hao performed Chopin's "First Piano Concert" in the finals at 2021's 18th Chopin International Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland, for which he received an honorable mention commendation, also at the age of 17. Having drawn international attention since then, he will perform Chopin and Beethoven in a recital on October 5.
Violist Shen Ziyu became the youngest person to win first prize in the 11th Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in 2013 at the age of 15. She will perform compositions by Bach, Schumann and Brahms as well as more contemporary works, such as the Chinese premiere of Akira Nishimura's "Song of Birds," at her November 11 recital.
The popular multimedia concerts "Traditional Music Rises from the Sea Horizon" will return for a third round between October 14 and November 11.
Zide Guqin Studio
The concert hall has been working more with traditional Chinese musicians in recent years to both commercial and critical acclaim. For the new season, it will feature Zide Guqin Studio in the New Year's concert.
The studio went viral on video sites like Bilibili and YouTube for modernizing the guqin, an ancient musical instrument. It has attracted millions of viewers since 2020 for playing contemporary music from popular movies and television series like "Game of Thrones," "Inception" and Japanese anime "Doraemon."
Zide Guqin Studio's live concerts, on the other hand, are well known for recreating ancient Chinese music and culture while the performers wear traditional costumes.
Musicians Dai Xiaolian (left) and Zhan Yongming
Another traditional Chinese music performance will feature guqin master, Dai Xiaolian, and renowned flutist, Zhao Yongming, who will bring to life some of the most famous traditional melodies from Jiangnan, or regions south of the Yangtze River.
The series of traditional Chinese music concerts will also explore cross-border possibilities, such as a concert by Hu Chenyun playing the suona, a traditional instrument with a double-reed horn sometimes known as a Chinese trumpet. Hu will use the centuries-old instrument, which first appeared in China around the 3rd century, to play popular animation and gaming music beloved by young people.
The concert hall also announced a national tour for the nostalgic Chinese musical, "The Twilight of Springtime," co-produced by the concert hall. The musical premiered in 2017 to critical acclaim and portrays young people passionately fighting for their dreams in a rapidly changing city and country in the 1990s.
Poster of the musical "The Twilight of Springtime," a Shanghai Concert Hall co-production.
