ESPRIT ORCHESTRA DEBUT CHINA TOUR May 26th to June 5th, 2015
Esprit Orchestra, Canada’s leader in performing new orchestral music, conducted by Founding Music Director and Conductor Alex Pauk, will embark on its Debut China Tour from May 26th to June 5th, 2015. Coinciding with the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Canada and the People’s Republic of China, this tour provides an opportunity for developing long-lasting musical exchanges between China and Canada.
The tour begins with a concert at the 2015 Beijing Modern Music Festival, the largest and most important new music festival in China. It will also include two concerts as part of a residency for the Orchestra at the China-ASEAN Music Week in Nanning, Guangxi, one of three major platforms for new music in the Peoples’ Republic.
The first concert of the tour takes place on May 29th, at the Concert Hall of the Central Conservatory of Music as part of the Beijing Modern Music Festival which is organized by the Central Conservatory. The programme is all-Canadian and includes music by Omar Daniel, Alex Pauk, Alexina Louie and R. Murray Schafer. All pieces on the programme will be receiving their Asian premieres.
Esprit then travels to Nanning where it will be in residence for six days at the China-ASEAN Music Week organized by the Guangxi Institute of the Arts.
On June 2, 2015 Esprit will perform the Opening Concert of the China-ASEAN Music Week and will combine with musicians of the Guangxi Symphony Orchestra to form a large orchestra for this celebratory occasion. The concert, performed at the Guangxi Ethnic Arts Palace Concert Hall, will highlight an international mix of composers including Vietnamese composer Đặng Hữu Phúc, Canadian Alexina Louie, Germany’s Jörg Widmann, plus three Chinese composers; Yi Chen, Wenchen Qin and Chenjun Zhong. Zhong’s work will be receiving its World Premiere.
On June 4th Esprit, in the Guangxi Institute of the Arts Concert Hall, Esprit will reprise its programme of Canadian music from May 29th at the Beijing Modern Music Festival.
Composer Alexina Louie will accompany Esprit on tour and, as visiting guest composer of both festivals, will give pre-concert talks and master classes for composition and performance students. This follows through on lectures she gave in May 2014 on the occasion of the China National Performing Arts Centre Orchestra’s performance of her music on the opening concert of the 2014 Beijing Modern Music Festival. Her music was also performed at the 2013 edition of the festival and her connection with China was increased in October 2013 when Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra took her music on tour to China and invited her to give master classes.
In the tradition of Esprit’s dedication to new music education and support for emerging talent, Esprit’s residency in Nanning will include workshops at the Central Conservatory and Guangxi Institute of the Arts.Esprit Orchestra’s China Tour affords Esprit the opportunity to highlight Canadian music and the Orchestra’s high performance standards at festivals attended by prominent, influential international delegates including musicians, conductors, composers, promoters and media from around the world.
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