China Traditional Orchestra Zhejiang

Established in 1957, the China Traditional Orchestra Zhejiang has earned its great reputation at home and abroad for its interpretation of the distinctive music of the province of Zhejiang. It belongs to the Zhejiang Song and Dance Theater, a performing arts company with more than 300 members hosting several ensembles dedicated to various artistic genres. The Zhejiang province is located to the south of Shanghai. Its capital, Hangzhou, is a modern city with eight million inhabitants, which has developed remarkably since the opening of China and it is now considered an important cultural center.

In the past fifty years, the orchestra has generated a number of outstanding artists, such as the bamboo flute players Zhao Songting and Song Jinglian, the percussionist Qian Xiaomao, the banhu player Wang Huinan, the composer Qian Zhaoxi, etc. Since the 1980s, it has been a magnet for graduates of Chinese music conservatories.

The orchestra is dedicated to researching and developing traditional Chinese music. The orchestra has commissioned works with many different traditional Zhejiang characteristics, from orchestral works like The General's Command, The Fisher's Jubiliant Song and Boat Song in Water Village, to pieces for bamboo flute (Three Five and Seven), erhu (Ditty of the Water Village), pipa and sanxian(Spring of Jiangnan - South Spring) and many others.

The orchestra has also composed many innovative pieces by combining modern techniques with Chinese traditions to meet the increasing interest in contemporary music. Pieces like Primitive Safari, The General's Command, Joy and Mu Guiying have been warmly received by audiences in China and abroad.

The China Traditional Orchestra Zhejiang has represented both China and the Zhejiang Province on multiple concert tours abroad, winning praise from local audiences and recognized music critics. In 2006 and 2007 alone, China Traditional Orchestra Zhejiang performed 20 Chinese New Year Concerts in nine European countries. Some of the concerts from these tours were telecast on CCTV and local television channels in China.

In three consecutive years from 2007 to 2009, the China Traditional Orchestra Zhejiang has held concerts in the Beijing Concert Hall and the National Center for the Performing Arts Beijing, two of the primary concert venues in China. These performances gained broad attention from the country's music scene. To the delight of traditional music lovers, in December 2012, the prestigious conductor Zhang Guoyong was invited to collaborate with the orchestra.

Zhang Lie, Conductor

Being a member of the Chinese Musicians Association, Zhang Lie is a conductor of national renown. He holds high positions in the Chinese music industry, serving as Director of the China National Orchestra Society and as Vice Secretary-General of the China Conductor Committee.

Currently, Zhang Lie is the Permanent Conductor of the China Radio, Film and Symphony Orchestra as well as the Radio National Orchestra. In previous positions, he acted as the Artistic Director and Guest Conductor of the Central Conservatory of Music, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Taipei Municipal Orchestra of Chinese Traditional Music the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts and Permanent Conductor of the Guangdong Orchestra.

Zhang Lie graduated from the Xi'an Conservatory of Music in 1984 and received further education in the Conducting Department of the Chinese Central Conservatory of Music after which he attended master classes in conducting under the guidance of Professor Baum in Germany.

Zhang Lie has worked in Europe, Asia, and the United States and primarily in the Greater China area, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan. He has written orchestral and ballet music, movie scores and commissioned works. Furthermore he has created more than a hundred concerto and vocal arrangements, for which he received many important awards. His percussion concerto, Random Thoughts of Guan Mountain, has been in the repertoire of traditional orchestras in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and Mainland China.

Zhang Lie has a clear and meticulous style of conducting. He is full of passion and has an ability to grasp the inner soul of the music and reveal it in an innovative way. "Lie Zhang has a deep understanding of Chinese traditional instruments and his own way to explain music. He's the soul of a concept; he can balance the sense of music and control the atmosphere of the audience. He can lead the audience into a world of rich and varied feelings.", according to a review by a British critic, which sheds light on the popularity and the attraction of Zhang Lie's works and creativity in the past years.

Zhang Guoyong, Conductor

Zhang Guoyong began his study in conducting in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music under the direction of the famous conductor Prof. Huang Xiaotong. In 1993, he was transferred by the government to study in the Moscow State Conservatory named after Tchaikovsky, where he studied under the world famous conductor G. Rozhdestvensky. He is now the artistic director of the Shanghai Opera House, Professor and Dean of Conducting Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

He has cooperated with many orchestras and well-known musicians both at home and abroad. Apart from the symphonic repertoires, he also conducted numerous operas, such as Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, Madama Butterfly, La Boheme; La Traviata, Otello, the Wager; ballets like Swan Lake, Giselle, Don Quixote. Nutcrackers; Cantatas like Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, Mozart's Requiem, Song of the Forest, Stabat Mater, Carmina Burana, and so on.

In 2006, he was invited to be a member of jury of the 8th Cadaques Orchestra International Conducting Competition in Spain.

In 2007 he toured with the Zhejiang Traditional Orchestra to Europe. And he also has cooperation with many other traditional orchestras such as Hong Kong Traditional Orchestra, Taiwan Traditional Orchestra, Singapore Traditional Orchestra, etc.

Su Chang, Guzheng

Su Chang began to study the guzheng at the age of six. Today she performs both solo and in accompaniment to orchestras worldwide.

Her notable engagements include being a featured soloist in the YouTube Symphony Orchestra's 2010 concert in Sydney under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, and a personal invitation from Oscar-winning composer Tan Dun to perform in the 2012 Zurich premiere of a new work.

She has also performed with Grammy-winning artist Kitaro, and tours internationally with the Chinese folk ensemble The Viva Girls. Su Chang premiered the guzheng Concerto Identity in 2010 under the baton of Case Scaglione of the New York Philharmonic, and has been the soloist at every subsequent performance.