Brigham Young University will welcome the Chinese Opera Orchestra of Shanghai to campus Wednesday, Sept. 21, at 7:30 p.m. in the de Jong Concert Hall.
Tickets are available at $12, with $6 off with BYU or student ID, $2 off for senior citizens or BYU alumni. For tickets, contact the Fine Arts Ticket Office at (801) 422-4322 or byuarts.com/tickets.
The orchestra, conducted by Wang Yongji, will perform opera and folk music on traditional instruments by many of Shanghai’s most esteemed musicians. The program will feature many settings of Chinese folk music performed in ensembles and as solos.
The founding of the Chinese Opera Orchestra of Shanghai by the Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group in early 2010 was heralded as a major event in preserving and popularizing traditional Chinese music and in making it accessible to people of all ages in the region, the nation and the world.
The orchestra strives to preserve and renew the traditions that have represented Chinese musical culture for centuries. Folk music and the music of the many forms of Chinese opera (i.e. Peking Opera, Huai Opera, Yue Opera, etc.) are of profound cultural significance for China and Chinese audiences, representing the essence of Chinese national musical art.
The quality of the orchestra and its performances under Maestro Wang was immediately recognized and honored. It was recently selected to represent the city of Shanghai in two gala performances at the Shanghai International Expo and was selected as one of the famous international groups celebrating the 2010 Asia Games in Guangzhou.
For more information about this performance, contact Ken Crossley at (801) 422-9348 or ken_crossley@byu.edu.
Those interested in Chinese culture on BYU campus can get in touch with the BYU Chinese Flagship Center through Dr. Dana Bourgerie, Center Director, at dana_bourgerie@byu.edu or visit the website at chineseflagship.byu.edu.
Writer: Charles Krebs
