Singapore, 13 February 2015 (Friday) – “The bass strings rumbled like thunderstorms pelting, the treble strings rustled like lovers whispering. Rumbling and rustling interleaved at a fast rate, like large and small pearls falling on a jade plate.” After reading the beautiful verses from Bai Juyi’s famous The Pipa Tune, can you imagine the sounds of a pipa? Under the baton of Artistic Director of Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, Wang Fu Jian, SCO will present a night of Sparkling Plucked Strings on 14 March 2015, where you will hear the two plucked-string sisters play to beautiful masterpieces.
The grand dame of plucked-string instruments, the pipa is one of the technically most comprehensive instruments in the Chinese orchestra. It was introduced to China through Asia Minor over 2000 years ago. The pipa is able to express a wide range of emotions. It can be bright and harsh when you need to portray battles or great tension. It can also melt your heart with warm expressive tones on sad songs or love ballads. Liuqin looks like a mini pipa and is known for its large projection and higher pitch instrument in the Chinese orchestra. In this concert, SCO’s pipa principal Yu Jia will perform the Singapore premiere of pipa concerto Pleasure of Playing, an emotional and refined piece by Professor Liu Chang Yuan. Yu Jia graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in 1997. In the same year, she joined SCO, and is currently SCO’s pipa principal. She has won numerous awards and participated in arts festivals in Denmark, Mexico, Hong Kong and Singapore with good reviews for her appearances.
Guest liuqin musician Tang Yi Wen of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra will debut with the SCO in liuqin concerto A Drinking Song composed by one of the contemporary China’s most influential composers, Liu Wen Jin. Tang Yiwen is one of the most outstanding young interpreters in the contemporary Chinese music scene. Her mature technical abilities and her powerful expressive performance has won her numerous awards including the first prize in the National Liuqin Competition.
This is also a much-awaited concert since Wang Fu Jian last conducted SCO in 2010. He is known for his suave, yet passionate style of conducting. He has always been committed to the exploration and creation of folk music. In 1985, he pioneered to conduct National Youth Orchestra of Central Conservatory of Music to present a concert of contemporary musical repertoire in Chinese traditional music format in Beijing, thus promoting the traditional music development in the new era. Since his appointment as the artistic director of Shanghai Chinese Orchestra in 2005, Wang Fu Jian has made a series of transformation and led the orchestra to a new era. In his fourth collaboration with SCO, Wang Fu Jian will conduct the SCO to present a series of Chinese contemporary works including Zhang Zhao’s Colourful Dream, Liu Chang Yuan’s famous Jasmine Blossoms, winners of the 18th National Music Composition (Chinese Orchestra section) Award – Silk Road by Jiang Ying and Surging Forward by Xie Peng.
Conductor: Wang Fu Jian Liuqin: Tang Yi Wen Pipa: Yu Jia
Concert details:
Sparkling Plucked Strings
Date: 14 March 2014 (Saturday)
Time: 8pm
Venue: SCO Concert Hall
Ticket Prices: $70, $60, $45/$30*, $30/$20* (exclude SISTIC fee)
Tickets from SISTIC
*Concession price
Please contact Media Officers for more information, photographs and interviews.
Media Contacts
Pang Ze Shuen
Executive (Marketing Communications)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DID: 6557 4037 / 8404 1944
Toi Liang Shing
Executive (Marketing Communications)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DID: 6557 4020 / 9620 8280
Koh Mui Leng
Assistant Manager (Marketing Communications)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DID: 6557 4047 / 9833 0556