New Juilliard Ensemble Presents Works by Composers Living and Working in China Today, Monday, November 9 at 8 PM in Alice Tully Hall

Concert Features the World Premiere of Li Shaosheng's "Skyline on the Moon," Western Hemisphere Premiere of Zhu Jian-er's Symphony No. 4 and Works by Ye Xiaogang, Guo Wenjing, Jia Daqun and Liu Sola, Conducted by Joel Sachs

Juilliard presents works by Chinese composers all living and working in China today on Monday, November 9 at 8 PM in Alice Tully Hall, when Joel Sachs and the New Juilliard Ensemble perform the world premiere of Li Shaosheng's Skyline on the Moon and the Western Hempishere premiere of Zhu Jian-er's Symphony No. 4, Op; 31, "6.4.2-1" (for bamboo flute and 22 strings with internationally acclaimed Chinese flutist Chen Tao on dizi) part of Carnegie Hall's Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture. Also on the program are Ye Xiaogang's Nine Horses (1993); Liu Sola's In-Corporeal I (1998); Guo Wenjing's Concertino for Cello and Chamber Orchestra (1996) featuring Juilliard master of music degree student, cellist Mimi Yu; and Jia Daqun's Three Images from Ink and Wash Painting (2005, composed for the New Juilliard Ensemble and premiered by them in 2006).

FREE tickets are available beginning October 26 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard (located at 155 West 65th Street). For further information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.

This concert is presented by The Juilliard School in partnership with Carnegie Hall as part of Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture. It marks the last of three appearances by Juilliard as part of the festival and includes the October 26 Juilliard presentation of the world premiere of Tan Dun's Violin Concerto ("The Love") with Juilliard alumnus and faculty member Cho-Liang Lin at Alice Tully Hall; and the October 28 presentation by Carnegie Hall of the world premiere of Chen Qigang's Er Huang for piano and orchestra with pianist Lang Lang with Michael Tilson Thomas leading the Juilliard Orchestra at Carnegie Hall. (Completing the October 28 program will be Lou Harrison's Pacifika Rondo and Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde with mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and tenor Gregory Kunde.

Li Shaosheng's Skyline on the Moon was commissioned by Juilliard for the festival and will have its world premiere performance on this concert. The composer says the inspiration for this piece came from a trip to Tibet in 2008 to collect ballads. While there, he sensed a feeling of life while sitting near a lake. Li is in his junior year at the Central Conservatory where he studies with Ye Xiaogang. His compositions, about 20 in all, include solos, art songs, folk songs, and symphony band works. Last year his work, Far Away, was played in the opening ceremony of the Beijing Modern Festival.  

Ye Xiaogang's Nine Horses was commissioned by Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble and had its premiere it in 1996 with David Stock conducting. Ye says that the inspiration for the melody of this work comes from Beijing opera and folks songs from Vietnam and Indonesia. He studied at the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music and received a full scholarship to study at the Eastman School of Music. Since 1983, Ye has received numerous national and international awards and commissions and has written symphonies, concertos, and chamber music for premieres in Canada, the U.S., Japan, New Zealand, Finland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. He has composed music for about 30 films. In August 2008, his piano concerto, Starry Sky, was premiered during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing with pianist Lang Lang. Accompanied by dance and light shows, it was broadcast live and watched by about 3 billion people worldwide. Ye is vice president of the Beijing Central Conservatory, a member of its composition faculty, and a member of the national Parliament, an unusual combination for a composer.

Liu Sola's In-Corporeal I was the composer's first orchestral work since 1983. The composer used the conventional sonata form in the piece, but tried to allow her musical structures to manifest themselves within this form. Liu sees an affinity between her music and architecture or design. Shapes are important to her, and music comes out from the shapes. The New Juilliard Ensemble commissioned the work, which had its premiere in Alice Tully Hall on February 26, 1999. Liu lives in Beijing. She studied at the Beijing Conservatory in its first post-cultural-revolution composition class. Many of the composers in her class are well-known today: Tan Dun, Zhou Long, Chen Yi, Qu Xiao-song, and Guo Wenjing. Liu Sola made her in mark in China differently, by establishing herself as China's first female rock star and a celebrated writer. She has collaborated with world famous rock, jazz and blues artists, as well as traditional and classical musicians and gives performances worldwide. Her band is called Liu Sola & Friends and features celebrated Chinese instrumental soloists. Liu has composed scores for many Chinese and international films, TV and drama productions, theater, modern dances, and commercial use, and has acted in films.

Guo Wenjing's Concertino for Cello and Chamber Orchestra was commissioned for Natalia Gutman by the Dutch Christian Radio network. The premiere took place in 1997 at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. Guo says the Concertino offers a simple message: "The sound and beauty of Mother Nature." Guo Wenjing graduated in composition from the Central Conservatory of Music and is now dean and professor in the composition department of the school. His compositions include a chamber opera, choral symphony, three concertos, two symphonic poems, and chamber music. Guo has also composed music for 20 films and 25 television films. He has been a featured composer in the Lincoln Center Festival and his recent commissions have come from the Holland Festival, Radio France, the Kronos Quartet, the Cincinnati Percussion Group, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw with the Dutch Christian Radio Network.             

Jia Daqun's Three Images from Ink and Wash Painting was composed for and premiered by the New Juilliard Ensemble on the FOCUS! festival, January 2006. Jia, who studied painting while growing up, says: "The composition depicts the artistic conception and space, which can be perceived from Chinese traditional painting, with its delicate rhythmical and exquisite diversification of harmony and sound colors. Meanwhile, it explores the expression of the lingering charm, which is characteristic of Chinese culture, through Western musical structures and sounds." The work has three movements: Gon Bi (subtle line and point drawing); Jin Ran (delicate dip-dye style); and Po Mo (pure expression and artistic conception described without any ideographic scenery). Jia received his bachelor of arts and master of arts in music composition and theory at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu. He is now a professor of composition at the Shanghai Conservatory and one of the few composers currently living in China who has received numerous commissions from abroad.

Zhu Jian-er's Symphony No. 4, Op. 31, "6.4.2-1" was composed as a submission to the 1990 Queen Marie José International Music Competition and was the winning composition. The piece will have its U.S. premiere on this concert. According to the rules of the competition, the number of strings one could use was 6 6 4 4 2, and 1 solo instrument. The title of the piece, "6,4,2-1," has several meanings: it is the required number of string instruments for the competition; it fits the theory of Taoism, according to which, two grows out of one, four grows out of two, and so forth. Zhu was born in Tianjin and raised in Shanghai. He taught himself music and composed art songs. He also was the composer for an art troupe and conductor of a military band, and wrote film music. Zhu went on to study composition at the Moscow Conservatory and returned to China after he graduated. Since 1975, he has been the permanent composer of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and concurrently is professor of composition at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Zhu's works include ten symphonies, twelve miscellaneous orchestral pieces, the Symphony-Cantata Heroic Poems, piano music, chamber music, ensembles for Chinese traditional instruments, among many other works.

The New Juilliard Ensemble (NJE), led by founding director Joel Sachs, celebrates the liveliness of today's music, focusing primarily on repertory of the last decade. Now in its 17th season, NJE presents music by a variety of international composers writing in the most diverse styles. Its members are current students at Juilliard, who are admitted to the ensemble by audition. Student interest in the ensemble's work is considerable, with more than 100 students participating each year, although the maximum size of compositions is normally 15-20 players. The Ensemble appears regularly at MoMA's Summergarden and has been a featured ensemble four times at the Lincoln Center Festival. This Spring, the New Juilliard Ensemble toured Japan; in December 2009, they perform aleatoric music at the Smithsonian's Freer Gallery in Washington, D.C., in conjunction with an exhibition of Persian and Turkish "divining" manuscripts. In January, the New Juilliard Ensemble opened the 2009 FOCUS! festival, CALIFORNIA: A Century of New Music, which showcased West Coast composers. The 2008 FOCUS! festival celebrated composer Elliott Carter's 100th year with New Juilliard Ensemble members joining members of the Lucerne Festival Academy Ensemble, conducted by Pierre Boulez.

New Juilliard Ensemble founder and director Joel Sachs performs a vast range of traditional and contemporary music as conductor and pianist and is co‑director of the internationally acclaimed new-music ensemble Continuum. Dr. Sachs has appeared in hundreds of performances in New York, nationally, and internationally. He has held new-music residencies in Berlin at the Hochschule der Künste, in London at Trinity College of Music, in Salzburg at the Hochschule Mozarteum, and at the annual Oficina de Musica in Curitiba (Brazil). During the last few years, he conducted the distinguished Icelandic contemporary music ensemble Caput in a program of music from Ukraine, Uzbekistan, the United States, and Iceland, and a concert of music by Danish composer Hans Abrahamsen, and also recorded a CD of works by the Icelandic composer Askell Masson. In March 2009 Mr. Sachs was in residence at the Sibelius Academy, Helsinki. June 2008 marked his sixth visit to Mongolia. His recordings appear on the Advance, CRI, Naxos, New Albion, Nonesuch, and TNC labels. A CD of music of the Americas with La Camerata de las Americas (Mexico City) was released by Dorian.


FOR CALENDAR LISTINGS:

Monday, November 9, 8 PM

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: Celebrating Chinese Culture

Alice Tully Hall

New Juilliard Ensemble

Joel Sachs, Music Director and Conductor

Chen Tao, Dizi (Chinese transverse flute)

Mimi Yu, Cello

Li Shaosheng - Skyline on the Moon (2009) (World Premiere)

Ye Xiaogang - Nine Horses (1993)

Guo Wenjing - Concertino for Cello and Chamber Orchestra (1996)

Jia Daqun - Three Images from Ink and Wash Painting (2005) (Composed for the New Juilliard Ensemble)

Liu Sola - In-Corporeal I (1998, revised 2009) (Composed for the New Juilliard Ensemble) First performance of revised version

Zhu Jian-er - Symphony No. 4, Op. 31, "6.4.2-1" (1990) for Chinese bamboo flute and 22 strings (Western Hemisphere premiere)

FREE tickets are available beginning October 26 at the Janet and Leonard Kramer Box Office at Juilliard. For further information, call (212) 769-7406 or go to www.juilliard.edu.

 

 

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