Lunar New Year
Grades 1-6Mon Feb 14, 2022
Lunar New Year celebrations aren’t about winter—they mark the beginning of spring, with all the color and festive moods of the season of rebirth. That joy, celebrated for centuries, shines through in this program as it introduces students to various cultures and musical traditions of Asia. Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival Overture conjures dramatic parades and fireworks, but by using a traditional folk melody, it also offers a quiet prayer for good fortune and peace. Peking Opera musicians take center stage for a concerto featuring the jing hu, a traditional instrument like a vertical fiddle. Orchestra member Rui Du demonstrates in The Butterfly Lovers how his violin can deliver musical gestures characteristic of China’s unique operatic tradition. Malay poems set to music plus Vietnamese and Korean works round out this extraordinary concert.
This program will be available to stream online for free after its premiere.
Artists
Minnesota Orchestra
Junping Qian
conductor
Roz Tsai
host
Zhengang Xie
jing hu master
Mei Hu
yue qin master
The Grammy Award-winning Minnesota Orchestra, now in its second century, ranks among America’s top symphonic ensembles, with a distinguished history of acclaimed performances in its home state and around the world; award-winning recordings, broadcasts and educational engagement programs; and a commitment to intentionally build concert programs to feature more works by composers of color, exploring music both contemporary and historic. In September 2024, Danish conductor Thomas Søndergård begins his second season as music director.
Junping Qian, who is now in his third year of leading the Minnesota Orchestra’s Lunar New Year celebration, served as assistant conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra from 2018 to 2020 and was a visiting faculty member at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Dr. Benhong Rosaline Tsai, now in her third year of hosting the Minnesota Orchestra’s Lunar New Year concerts, is a global talent management executive who has held transformative leadership roles in multiple Fortune 500 organizations such as Ecolab, Honeywell and Xcel Energy. She currently serves as Vice President of Talent, Learning, and Org Effectiveness at Thrivent, a Fortune 500 financial services firm based in Minneapolis.
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 Hu participated in editing. While in China, as the top “Cheng” style Peking Opera fiddlers, Xie and 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.
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 Hu participated in editing. While in China, as the top “Cheng” style Peking Opera fiddlers, Xie and 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.
Consultant & Partner
Fei Xie, artistic consultant
Asian Media Access, artistic partner
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