2009 News and Information
Xiamen Orchestra Comes to Richmond
03 September 2009Making history with their first performance in North America, the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra is poised to perform at Richmond’s River Rock Show Theatre on October 4, 2009. The Orchestra will introduce Canadian audiences to the majesty of Chinese symphonic music conducted by one of China’s most celebrated — and female — conductors, Zheng Xiaoying.
Founded by Professor Zheng Xiaoying in 1998, the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra has fast become one of China’s leading orchestras and a potent symbol of the city of Xiamen, an island city of more than 2.4 million people known as the Music Island of the Orient.
The Orchestra actively commissions new symphonies by Chinese composers about the Chinese people. For this tour, its 80-plus members will perform Echo of Hakka Earth Buildings, composed by Liu Yuan. This work, which received the Golden Prize at the inaugural Chinese Music Golden Bell Awards, depicts the Hakka (Kejia) people of Western Fujian province, who created unique communities of rammed earth buildings constructed in various geometric shapes. The piece is a fusion of West and East combining Chinese traditional music and a chorus in the Kejia dialect, with Western musical styles.
The Orchestra will perform an excerpt from Echo of Hakka Earth Buildings in an afternoon show and play the work in its entirety for the evening performance. Several special guests will join the Orchestra–Wang Junshi, guest conductor; Zhang Hongyan, a popular pipa player and recording artist in China; and Song Siheng, who at 28 is internationally regarded as one of the top pianists of his generation. There are also two folk musicians: Li Tiansheng, a singer; and Zhan Jingjing, who makes music with a leaf.
At nearly 80 years of age, the Orchestra’s conductor, Zheng Xiaoying, is China’s first female conductor and has spent her life spreading Chinese culture through music. As she says, “I don’t think it is necessary to focus exclusively on playing pieces by famous Western artists like Beethoven. I want Westerners to know what Chinese artists are doing and what kind of symphonies they have created. This is the Chinese people’s contribution to a global cultural treasure.”
Uplifting, educational and engaging for Asian and non-Asian classical music fans alike, the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra’s visit to Richmond—organized by the City of Richmond’s Sister City Committee—will be an unsurpassed opportunity for cultural enrichment and exchange.
Two local choirs will have the honour of sharing the stage with them. The 2 p.m. show on October 4 will feature the Richmond Youth Honour Choir and their song, Richmond. At the 7:30 p.m. performance, the Richmond Orchestra and Chorus will perform alongside the Orchestra. Tickets are available at TicketMaster.ca.
For more information, visit www.richmond.ca/xpo.
