Organization

Conductor

Lio Kuokman

Singer

Soprano

Holly Flack

Deborah Solange Martinez

Raquel Suarez-Groen

Paula Malagón

Esther Kelly

Milica Yovichic

Juliet Petrus

Mezzo-soprano

Melisa Bonetti

Tenor

Thomas Glenn

Kyle Tomlin

Baritone

Igor Mostovoi

José Rubio

Valdis Jansons

Lewei Wang

Bass

Wu Wei

Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra

Others

iSING! Suzhou International

Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems in Celebration of Lunar New Year

New York City

United States

Alice Tully Hall (Lincoln Center)

Philadelphia

Kimmel Center

Public

Concert

Anna-Maria Gkouni

Approved

(Philadelphia, December 6, 2022)—In celebration of Lunar New Year, and in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s historic 1973 tour of China, the iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival announces the North American premiere of Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems on Friday, January 6, 2023, at 7:30 PM at the Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall in Philadelphia, and Saturday, January 7, at 7:30 PM at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York.

 

Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Historic China Tour

The Philadelphia Orchestra’s Lunar New Year Concert celebrates the 50th anniversary of the ensemble’s historic 1973 tour of China, the first by an American orchestra, as well as the Orchestra’s ongoing relationship with the people of China. Over the past 50 years, the Orchestra has returned to China 12 times, more than any other U.S. orchestra. The Lunar New Year concert is the first of several upcoming events that will commemorate the milestone. The concert is a co-production of The Philadelphia Orchestra; the Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre, which hosted the program’s world premiere in Suzhou, China, in late 2020; and the Asian Performing Arts Council (APAC).

 

Event Culminates the 2020 iSING! Composition Competition

This landmark program, led by former Philadelphia Orchestra Assistant Conductor Lio Kuokman, features settings of ancient Chinese lyrical texts by young composers from around the world. The production is the culmination of the 2020 iSING! Composition Competition, a five-month process of selecting winning composers from more than 200 entries. The panel of judges included Hao Jiang Tian, renowned bass and iSING! Founder and artistic director; Robert Blocker, the Henry and Lucy Moses Dean of Music at Yale University; Hao Weiya, Chair of the Composition Department at the Central Conservatory of Music; Italian composer Mauro Montalbetti, currently Composer in Residence at the Stadttheater Bremerhaven; Katherine Chu, Dean of The Tianjin Juilliard School; and renowned conductor Thomas Rösner.

 

The winning composers include Conrad Asman (South Africa), Nicholas Bentz (USA), Fernando Buide del Real (Spain), Nono Tongyan Chen (China), Maishuo Luo (China), Evan Mack (USA), Tomàs Peire (Spain), Xiao Su(China), Roydon Hoi Chak Tse (Canada), Cong Wei (China), Cynthia Lee Wong (USA), Sam Wu (Australia), Leishuo Ye (China), and Jiao Zhang (China).

 

Tang dynasty poets featured in this program of works for voice and orchestra include Li Bai (Li Po), Bai Juyi, Du Fu, Du Mu, Zhang Ji, and Wang Bo, among others.

 

“I was initially worried about being able to connect both historically and culturally,” says Fernando Buide del Real, who is from Santiago de Compostela. “But I soon realized Tang poetic sentiments are universal and transcend geographical boundaries. During the COVID lockdown, I found resonance in Wang Bo’s poem about friendship, loneliness, and separation. The precision and depth of the Chinese language is astounding. Every character and phrase is filled with meaning.”

 

“Old poems are great treasures,” explains Hao Jiang Tian. “Their beautiful language and deep meaning continue to inspire all of us. This project brings some of the world’s most ancient poems to the modern stage, which is particularly appropriate now as an inspiration to bring the world together in harmony.”

iSING! Suzhou Artists Bring Compositions to Life

Interpreting these new settings of immortal Tang texts are 15 veterans of the pioneering iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival, including two GRAMMY® winners and a Broadway headliner. The full roster includes sopranos Holly Flack (USA), Deborah Solange Martinez (Nicaragua), Raquel Suarez Groen (Canada), Paula Malagón (Mexico), Esther Maureen Kelly (USA), Milica Jovičič (Serbia), and Juliet Petrus (USA/Italy); mezzo-soprano Melisa Bonetti (Dominican Republic/USA); tenors Thomas Glenn (Canada) and Kyle Tomlin (USA); baritones Ihor Mostovoi (Ukraine/Canada), José Rubio (USA), Valdis Jansons (Latvia), and Lewei Wang (China); and bass Wei Wu (China).

 

The iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival has garnered international recognition over the last 11 years as the first-ever young artist program introducing Mandarin as a lyric language and Chinese vocal music as a representative classical music genre.

 

Asia Society Panel Discussion on the Genesis of Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems

On December 8, 2022, at 6:30 PM, the Asia Society New York will host a panel discussion on the genesis and development of Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems. Click here for more details.

 

Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems is supported by the China International Culture Association, Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York, Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations, Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and Suzhou Municipal People’s Government, with special thanks to the Bank of China.

English

Echoes of Ancient Tang Poems in Celebration of Lunar New Year by Various, Fra (2023/2023), Dirigent Lio Kuokman, Kimmel Center, Philadelphia, United States

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