International violinist Lu Si Qing and cellist Qin Li Wei return to dazzle with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra

Singapore, 27 October 2016 (Thursday) – Following three sold-out concerts in 2013, international violin virtuoso Lu Siqing will be back in Singapore to perform with SCO in the upcoming Strings Fantasy concert on 25th & 26 November 2016 (Friday & Saturday), 8pm at SCO Concert Hall. He will collaborate with renowned cellist Qin Li-Wei to perform masterpieces under the baton of SCO Music Director Tsung Yeh. The concert will feature three works by acclaimed Chinese composer Zhao Jiping.

Lu Siqing was the first Asian violinist to win the first prize at the prestigious Paganini International Violin Competition in Italy in 1987. He has performed in some of the most prestigious concert halls in more than forty countries throughout north and south America, Europe, Asia and South Africa. Lu Siqing has performed with many of the world’s esteemed conductors including Lorin Maazel, Valery Gergiev, Edo de Waart, Vladimir Ashkenazy, Lawrence Foster, Jaap van Zweden, Osmo Vänskä, as well as leading Chinese musicians such as Yu Long, Lu Jia, Tang Muhai, and Oscar winner Tan Dun, with whom Lu Siqing premiered his violin concerto Hero in 2011. He held solo performances  with many of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Bilbao Symphony, Salzburg Chamber Orchestra, Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra, Russia National Orchestra, Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, China Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan. A recording artist for Philips, Naxos, Marco Polo, and BIS, his interpretation of Butterfly Lovers violin concerto has been widely considered the best and has sold over a million copies worldwide.

In this concert, Lu Siqing will collaborate with soprano Zhang Ning Jia and SCO guqin musician Zhong Zhi Yue to perform Zhao Jiping’s Melody of the Secluded Orchid. This piece will interprets the charms of the China’s Great Philosopher, Confucius. The blend of the vastly different sounds of violin, guqin and vocals will create a unique music harmony effect. Zhang Jia Ning is currently a professor at the Xi’an Conservatory of Music Department of Vocal Music, and mentor of Vocal Music Postgraduate Degree Master students. She is also the soprano in Melody of the Secluded Orchid during its world premiere in Hong Kong. Audience can also get to enjoy Lu Siqing’s interpretation of Chen Gang’s 1976 well-known work, The Sun Shines on Tashkurghan, as it potrays the captivating ethnic culture of Xinjiang’s Tajik people. Pablo de Sarasate’s Carmen Fantasy is inspired from George Bizet’s Opera Carmen in the 19^th century. Lu Siqing will showcase his versatility in music as he performs this passionate and fast rhythmic piece which depicts a sorrowful and miserable love story filled with betrayal.

Qin Li-Wei is an established soloist and a chamber musician. After achieving great success at the 11^th Tchaikovsky International Competition where he was awarded the Silver Medal, Li-Wei has since won the First Prize in the prestigious 2001 Naumburg International Cello Competition in New York. Qin Li-Wei has enjoyed successful artistic collaborations with many renowned orchestras including Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra and BBC all Symphony Orchestras and conductors. He has recorded for Decca, EMI Classics (China), Cello Classics, ABC Classics and Channel Classics. His complete Beethoven Sonatas recording was released on the Decca label in 2010. In 2002, Qin Li-Wei received the Young Australian of the Year Award. Prior to teaching at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory, Qin Li-Wei was a professor of cello at the Royal Northern College of Music. Qin Li-wei will be performing Zhao Jiping’s cello concerto Disillusioned Dreams in this concert, a piece that presents China’s philosopher Zhuang Zi’s Taoism ideology.

SCO will perform Zhao Jiping’s Guo Feng and Celestial Web with lyrics by famous local multidisciplinary artist Tan Swee Hian and composed by local composer Law Wai Lun. Celestial Web is a modern poem of 117 verses and took reference Avatamsaka Sutra, which expounds the noble philosophical insights of the interconnectedness of sentient and non-sentient beings and the universal love that should be shared among all. This work is performed in the form of a symphonic orchestration of recitation and orchestra amidst the supplementing poems and themes that illustrate the distinctive characteristics of each section in the piece. Performers from Vocal Associates group will perform the recitation under chorus mistress Khor Ai Ming.