Lunar New Year for Families
with the Minnesota OrchestraSun Feb 6, 2022
Orchestra Hall
Celebrate the Lunar New Year with the Minnesota Orchestra and welcome the Year of the Tiger with a vibrant event that draws upon cultural traditions past and present. This one-hour Relaxed Family Concert is designed for audiences of all ages and abilities, including individuals on the autism spectrum and those with sensory sensitivities. Come enjoy music with family and friends in an inclusive environment where everyone is welcome to be who they are!
A Few Things to Know
- Lunar New Year will feature a variety of music—some soft and some loud—because we know that different audience members like different levels of sound. Review our tip sheet (coming soon) to read about quiet spaces, noise-canceling headphones and other options which are available for tailoring the concert experience to fit your family's preferences.
- Come early to watch a traditional Chinese dance performance, color Lunar New Year artwork or play a Chinese character matching game with our community partners, snap a family photo in front of our special new year’s backdrop or play a holiday trivia game on your phone.
- Prepare for the concert experience with our playlist, lobby map, pre-visit story and other materials. Scroll down this page for those resources!
- Tickets are just $12. Advance student rush also available.
Program
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LI
Spring Festival Overture
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CHOI
Arirang Fantasy
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CHEN/HE
Excerpt from The Butterfly Lovers
Violin Concerto -
WU
In the Dark Night
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TANG
Sketches of Singapore
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SON/J. Kuusisto
Circle of Unity
Artists
The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, led by Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård—who is serving as music director designate during the 2022-23 season—is recognized for distinguished performances around the world, award-winning recordings and broadcasts, educational engagement programs, and commitment to building the orchestral repertoire of the future. Founded in 1903, the Orchestra has an extensive history of touring throughout Minnesota, nationally and abroad, including high-profile visits in recent years to Cuba, Europe and South Africa. Recording projects undertaken in the past two decades include complete cycles of symphonies by Beethoven, Sibelius and Mahler, all recorded under Osmo Vänskä, who is now the Orchestra’s conductor laureate.
Conductor Junping Qian, having just completed his second year as the Assistant Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, also serves as a Visiting Faculty member at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
His recent engagements, aside from his busy schedule with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, notably, include conducting the Covid-19 recovery rehearsal camp of Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, a China Tour with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Teatro del Giglio Lucca, his South American debut with Orchestra SODRE in Montevideo, Uruguay, his North American professional debut with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, an open-air summer concert in “Summer Classics” Festival Sibiu and re-invitations from Toronto, Macau, Kunming, Xi’An, Bucharest, Iasi, and Tirgus Mures. He served as the Strategic Advisor and Residential Artist of the Shanghai & Royal College of Music London Joint Institute from 2018 to 2020.
Dr. Benhong Rosaline Tsai is Vice President, Talent, Learning & Org Effectiveness at Thrivent, a Fortune 500 financial services firm based in Minneapolis. In this role, Roz leads talent acquisition, talent management, leadership development and organization effectiveness efforts in support of Thrivent’s bold transformation and growth objectives. Previously, Roz served as vice president of HR and chief learning officer at Ecolab, leading performance management, career development, leadership and enterprise learning initiatives for its 49,000 global workforce. Roz has also held transformative leadership roles in Honeywell, Lawson Software (now Infor) and Northern States Power Company (now Xcel Energy). With her extensive cross-functional experiences across multiple industry sectors, Roz has developed a unique and strategic approach to creating diverse, inclusive and high-performing teams that drive enduring business impact. Outside of work Roz is a long-time community volunteer for youth development and arts & culture organizations, most recently completing her term as Board Chair for Minnesota non-profit BestPrep. A native of Tianjin, China, Roz completed her undergraduate studies at Nankai University and obtained her Master of Science degree at St. Cloud State University. She holds a doctorate degree from University of Minnesota, where she currently serves as adjunct faculty for the Carlson School of Management, teaching Global Talent Management for global business executives.
Rui Du, appointed assistant concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra in September 2015, had previously been a member of the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra; he won fourth chair in the first violin section in 2012 and soon after was named acting assistant concertmaster. He had previously been concertmaster of the Annapolis Symphony, associate concertmaster of the Aspen Music Festival Orchestra and concertmaster of the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. In addition, he has served as guest concertmaster of the Qingdao and Hebei symphony orchestras in China.
Du has won numerous competitions, including grand prize at the 2006 Canetti International Violin Competition. He has performed as soloist and recitalist in locations including France, Turkey, Finland and Singapore and China, in addition to appearing in solos with the orchestras mentioned earlier and the orchestras of Shanghai and Fuzhou in China. Also an accomplished chamber musician, Du has performed with renowned artists at the Tanglewood, Canetti and Aspen music festivals, among others, and in 2011 was featured in Aspen’s Baroque Evening Concert Series under the direction of Nicholas McGegan.
Born and raised in Heifei, in China’s Anhui Province, Du began violin studies at age 6. He studied initially with Zhou Bin-you at the Shanghai Conservatory, then with Qian Zhou at the National University of Singapore’s Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, where he won the artistic achievement award. He emigrated to the U.S. in 2008 and studied with Victor Danchenko and Herbert Greenberg at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, earning a master’s degree and graduate performance diploma.
Rui Du plays on a 1750 Nicola Gagliano violin, generously on loan to him from the Rin Collection.
Jing hu master Mr. Zhengang Xie and yue qin master Ms. Mei Hu, a husband and wife team, are listed as members of the elite group among the musicians in the Directory of Current Chinese Artists of 1998, which Ms. Hu participated editing. While in China, as the top “Cheng” style Peaking Opera fiddler, Mr. Xie and Ms. Hu performed and recorded as solo jing hu and yue qin players with many top Beijing Opera houses, including the Beijing Opera House and National Opera House. In addition to performing transitional Peking Opera repertoire, Xie has participated in many new opera productions, such as the Peking Opera TV show Cao Xueqin and the new opera The Legend of The White Snake. Xie has also performed in the Great Hall of People in Beijing during a Lunar New Year celebration, and was greeted by the Chairman Jiang Zemin, among other top Chinese government officials.
Since moving to the U.S. in 1999, the couple has brought Chinese music, particularly Peking Opera, to their community. While living in Cincinnati from 2000 to 2020, Xie and Hu performed in concert halls, schools, and universities around the region. In collaborations with University of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, they performed concertos such as In the Dark Night, The Qiao Family Compound and The God of Mountain. Xie and Hu currently reside in Plymouth, Minnesota, near their son, Minnesota Orchestra Principal Bassoon Fei Xie, and his family.
Jing hu master Mr. Zhengang Xie and yue qin master Ms. Mei Hu, a husband and wife team, are listed as members of the elite group among the musicians in the Directory of Current Chinese Artists of 1998, which Ms. Hu participated editing. While in China, as the top “Cheng” style Peaking Opera fiddler, Mr. Xie and Ms. Hu performed and recorded as solo jing hu and yue qin players with many top Beijing Opera houses, including the Beijing Opera House and National Opera House. In addition to performing transitional Peking Opera repertoire, Xie has participated in many new opera productions, such as the Peking Opera TV show Cao Xueqin and the new opera The Legend of The White Snake. Xie has also performed in the Great Hall of People in Beijing during a Lunar New Year celebration, and was greeted by the Chairman Jiang Zemin, among other top Chinese government officials.
Since moving to the U.S. in 1999, the couple has brought Chinese music, particularly Peking Opera, to their community. While living in Cincinnati from 2000 to 2020, Xie and Hu performed in concert halls, schools, and universities around the region. In collaborations with University of Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, they performed concertos such as In the Dark Night, The Qiao Family Compound and The God of Mountain. Xie and Hu currently reside in Plymouth, Minnesota, near their son, Minnesota Orchestra Principal Bassoon Fei Xie, and his family.
Your Concert Experience
Join us for Q&A’s, hosted discussions, exhibits and more. All free with your concert ticket!
Indulge at the Elixir Haus
When: Pre-Concert and Intermission
Where: Cargill Commons
Beverage service is available before and during each winter concert at Elixir Haus (located outside Orchestra Hall). Grab your coat and head outside for a sip of spirits or a cup of hot cocoa.
Lunar New Year Trivia
Test your Lunar New Year knowledge with a Kahoot trivia game for all ages, designed by Know Factory Trivia's Brian Ward and Asian Media Acess. Play on your own device using the link below!
Consultant & Partner
Fei Xie, artistic consultant
Asian Media Access, artistic partner
Additional Materials:
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Program Notes (Translation)
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Lobby Map (English)
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Lobby Map (Translation)
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Tip Sheet: Relaxed Family Concert (English)
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Tip Sheet: Relaxed Family Concert (Translation)
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Social Story (English)
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Social Story (Translation)
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Going to Orchestra Hall Pre-Visit Story (English)
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Going to Orchestra Hall Pre-Visit Story (Translation)
Accessibility Services
- ASL interpretation
- Assistive Listening Devices
- Braille & Large Print Programs
- Open Captioning
- Service Animals
- Wheelchair & Accessible Seating
Additional services are available upon request.