INTERNATIONAL TOUR CHINESE TRADITIONAL MUSIC Chinese Traditional Orchestra of the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater, Europe Tour, 2016 | Chinese Traditional Orchestra of the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater, Europe Tour, 2016 |
  Tour Dates: 26th January - 13th February, 2016 The Chinese Traditional Orchestra is affiliated to the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater, the largest and oldest state-level theater in China.
Tour Dates
Chinese Traditional Orchestra of China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater The Chinese Traditional Orchestra is affiliated to the China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater (CNODDT), the largest and oldest state-level theater in China. With a history of over 50 years, the Chinese Traditional Orchestra has created a large number of renowned and popular Chinese traditional operas and dance dramas. The revolutionary opera "The White-Haired Girl" is probably the best known in the west. During its performance practice over the past decades, the orchestra became a renowned national-level orchestra at home and abroad. The orchestra has formed a unique artistic style and fostered a large number of performers with high artistic attainments, especially with stars like Guo Lanying und Chen Ailian. In the course of its existence its members took part in national and international instrumental music competitions and won many prizes, including the prize of the 1st Chinese Music Performance Competition of the Ministry of Culture and the silver prize of the 1st Osaka International Chamber Music Competition. Like all traditional Chinese Orchestras the Chinese Traditional Orchestra of China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater is compact and flexible. This feature has allowed the orchestra to establish its own character, by combining traditional, modern and innovative ideas. The orchestra has accumulated many transitional and popular instrumental music works in the history of Chinese music, which have become long-playing and highly-appreciated repertoires. It has also made classical Chinese melodies a major tool to get closer to the people’s life. In 2005 for example, the large-scale Chinese music concert “Past Time”, as the first themed Chinese music concert, combined folk music with electronic music and enriched the expression form of traditional music. The concert was honored by media as the “best-received concert in recent years”. The large-scale multimedia Chinese symphonic concert “The Heroes” on the other hand perfectly combined traditional music with Kong Fu movies and TV plays. Through the examination of traditional Chinese music, the Chinese Traditional Orchestra of China National Opera & Dance Drama Theater has helped the sorting, inheritance, innovation and promotion of intangible cultural heritages. China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre Affiliated to Ministry of Culture of People’s Republic of China, China National Opera and Dance Drama Theatre is the largest state-level theatre with the longest history and most arts in China. It presents to the audience a series of diverse theatrical performances. Within the theatre there are opera troupe, dance drama troupe, folk music troupe, symphony orchestra, creation studio as well as stage designing department. The theatre was Yan’an Lu Xun College of Art as its predecessor. The first Dean of the theatre was the famous artist Mr. ZHOU Weizhi, and Mr. TAO Cheng, a Musicology PhD, is the present Dean of the theatre. In addition to a group of famous artists such as Mr. MA Ke, Mr. QIAO Yu, Ms. WANG Kun, Ms. GUO Lanying, Ms. ZHAO Qing, Mr. LIU Wenjin, Ms. CHEN Ailian, Mr. WU Yanze,Mr. XU Peidong and Mr. GUAN Xia in the past, a good many young and middle-aged artists have emerged into prominence in recent years. In 1964, the theatre participated in the grand musical dance epic The East is Red, in which the song Nanniwan sung by Ms. GUO Lanying has lived in the memory of the Chinese people for generations. Over half of the century, the theatre has performed more than one hundred operas and dance dramas, such as The White Haired Girl, Xiao Eehei's Marriage, The Lotus Lamp, The Dream of Red Chamber, Wildness, and The Shadow of Fence, which have marked the history of Chinese opera and dance drama and established symbolic images for China’s theatrical arts. China’s national leaders such as Mr. MAO Zedong, Mr. ZHOU Enlai, Mr. DENG Xiaoping, Mr. HU Jintao and Mr. XI Jinping, as well as heads of many foreign countries have enjoyed and sang highly of the performance. Basing on glorious history, the theatre shows creativities. In recent years, the theatre has produced a series of new masterpieces, such as Red River Valley (Opera), Confucius (Dance Drama), Charm of the Seasons, Wishes from Heaven, and Carnival on the Road (all Song and Dance). At the invitation of a good many countries, the theatre has frequently presented its performance to audience around the world, which helps not only to promote the international cultural exchanges but also strengthen the friendship between Chinese people and the rest of the world. With its classical stage performance, masterful arts and first-class artists, the theatre has won wide recognition and appreciation both domestically and worldwide. Conductor: Hong Xia
Hong Xia is a National First Class Conductor in China and permanent conductor of the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater. Hong is a member of the Chinese Musicians Association, a trustee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society, and the vice-president of the Conducting Major Committee at the China Nationalities Orchestra Society. After graduating from the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in 1982, she studied conducting under Wu Lingfen and Li Huade at the Department of Conducting at Central Conservatory of Music. She served as permanent conductor of the Heilongjiang Province Song and Dance Theater Symphony Orchestra and Chinese Orchestra, and as conducting professor and master’s student advisor at the Shenyang Conservatory of Music. Currently, she is the permanent guest conductor of the Changchun Film Studio Orchestra, the guest conductor of the Communication University of China Symphony Orchestra, and the guest chief conductor of the Chinese Chime Bells Orchestra from Hubei. Hong has collaborated with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Central Policy Song and Dance Ensemble Symphony Orchestra, China National Opera House Symphony Orchestra, Changchun Film Studio Orchestra, Heilongjiang Province Song and Dance Theater Symphony Orchestra and Chinese Orchestra, Guangdong Chinese Orchestra, Liaoning Chinese Orchestra, China Traditional Orchestra Zhejiang, Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, Chinese Chime Bells Orchestra from Hubei, China Youth Chinese Orchestra, China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, Kaohsiung Chinese Orchestra, and Macao Chinese Orchestra. She has travelled abroad multiple times to serve as an international judge for the Chinese Music Competition. Hong Xia has conducted multiple large-scale concerts in many Chinese mainland cities as well as in Taiwan and Macao. She collaborated with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and the Central Policy Song and Dance Ensemble Symphony Orchestra on the “Chinese Music Classics of the 20th Century Concert”. She served as the conductor for the opening of the Fifth Changchun International Film Festival. She conducted and performed in the Shenyang Conservatory of Music’s original large-scale oratorio “Zhe Bu Zhu De Qing Shan” (Green Peak can't be covered). She conducted several works by the Chinese Traditional Orchestra of China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater, including “Sui Yue Ru Ge” (Years as songs), “Si Da Ming Zhu” (Four Masterpieces) and “Chun Jiang Hua Yue Ye” (Moon Night over the River of Spring). Moreover, she conducted the large-scale opera „Yuan Ye” (Savage Land) by the China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater, which was performed more than fifty times in Beijing and across China. In 2008, Hong Xia conducted the final concert of the Festival for “Works by International Female Composers”. As part of the first “China Orchestra Festival” organized by the National Center for the Performing Arts, she conducted the concert “The Flowers Are Still So Red – national and international Film Music of Changchun Film Studio”. At the „Chunhua Qiushi – Spring Flower Autumn Fruits” Festival for Art Schools organized by the National Center for the Performing Arts, she conducted the concert “Hua Cai Jin Qiu” (Colorful Autumn) with the Shenyang Conservatory of Music Youth Chinese Orchestra and Chinese Folk Choir. She conducted the Chinese Traditional Orchestra of China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater during the “National Traditional Music Concert”. In 2007, she conducted the first “Liaoning Northern Chinese Orchestra New Year’s Concert” as well as its next three annual editions. She travelled abroad to Finland and other countries with the Chinese Traditional Orchestra of China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater. She conducted the traditional music concert “The World is Beautiful Because of You” by the Guangdong Chinese Orchestra, the “Hubei Chinese Chime Bells Orchestra Concert”, and the New Year’s Concert at the Sydney Town Hall in Australia. In 2010, she conducted the large-scale traditional symphonic chorus “Zhuang Zu Shi Qing” (Poetic Sentiments of the Zhuang People) by the Chinese Traditional Orchestra of China National Opera and Dance Drama Theater which premiered in Beijing. In 2013, she served as conductor of the Macao Chinese Orchestra concert “Song Chang Jing Dian“(Singing the Classics) and for the “Works by Liu Wenjin Concert” organized by the Central Conservatory of Music during the “Fourth Wind Instruments Art Week”. Hong has conducted many concerts of individual vocalists, performers and composers. She conducted the “Works by Liu Xijin Concert” organized by the Shenyang Conservatory of Music in June 2006, the Hong Kong Newtune Chinese Orchestra in March 2014 and the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra. Hong Xia is known for her mature, rigorous and expressive style that has a lot of character. Passionate but not over-the-top, detailed but not restrained, she is able to move with ease between Chinese and foreign, classical and modern, traditional and symphonic works. Program Conductor: Hong Xia 1. Traditional Chinese Orchestral Music “Spring Festival Overture” 2. Traditional Chinese Orchestral Music “Wondering around the Border” 3. Gaohu and Orchestra “Butterfly Lovers Fantasia” 4. Traditional Chamber Music “Daling Melody” 5. Suona Ensemble “Watch the Yangge” 6. Jinghu and Orchestra “Deep in the Night” Intermission 7. Traditional Chinese Orchestral Piece “How Much Do You Know About Chinese Wind and Stringed Instruments?” 8. Traditional Chinese Orchestral Piece “Great Wall Capriccio” 9. Traditional Chinese Orchestral Piece “Hero of the Mountain” |
