Carnegie Hall Presents Ancient Paths, Modern Voices

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Parent Category: Other Festivals

Category: Music

Published on Wednesday, 28 October 2009 03:34

Written by fftraveler staff

From October 21 to November 10, 2009, Carnegie Hall presents Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture, paying tribute to China’s diverse and vibrant culture and its influence around the world with 21 days of events at Carnegie Hall and throughout the city at New York partner institutions.

Carnegie Hall will present Harmonic Visions, an exhibition of contemporary Chinese photography in Zankel Hall, sponsored and curated by Chambers Fine Art. China boasts more than 5,000 years of history, the presence and influence of which can be felt in many aspects of its society and culture. The visual artists featured in this exhibition combine their experiences of living in contemporary China with the country’s rich and diverse traditions. Artists featured are: Hong Hao, Hong Lei, He Yunchang, Qiu Zhijie, Rong Rong, Weng Fen, Wang Tiande, Yin Xiuzhen, Song Dong, and Zhang Huan. The exhibit will be open to Zankel Hall concertgoers through December 31.

In addition, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute is pleased to announce that 19-year-old pianist Haochen Zhang will perform a free recital on Monday, November 2 at 7:30 p.m. at Flushing Town Hall in Queens. This will be Mr. Zhang’s first concert in New York since becoming one of the youngest participants and the first Chinese performer to earn the Gold Medal at the 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in June 2009. The program includes Chopin’s complete 24 Preludes, Op. 28; Ravel’s Gaspard de la nuit; and Liszt’s Rhapsodie espagnole.

Carnegie Hall has partnered with select New York art galleries as well to present China in Chelsea and Beyond, an event celebrating Chinese contemporary visual arts and exhibiting work by some of today’s leading Chinese artists.

Participating galleries are Arario Gallery, AW Asia, Chambers Fine Art, ChinaSquare, Goedhuis Contemporary, Max Protetch Gallery, and Stux Gallery, with featured artists including Yue Minjun, Qi Zhilong, Tan Dun, Sun Xun, and many more.

Other visual arts events, presented by festival partners, include:

China Art(s) Today
A panel discussion on November 2 at the Asia Society, moderated by Asia Society Director Melissa Chiu and featuring avant-garde artist Wenda Gu and award-winning composer and artist Tan Dun. Two of China’s most provocative artists discuss their work and ponder future directions for themselves and for contemporary Chinese arts. 

Silk and Bamboo: Music and Art of China
An exhibition of Chinese instruments and art, presented by The Metropolitan Museum of Art through February 7, 2010. A celebration of the diverse musical heritage of China, with about 80 objects drawn largely from the museum’s permanent collection, the exhibition features a wide variety of musical instruments and art, including a rare Ming dynasty ivory-covered pipa (lute) and lacquered qin (zither), extraordinary bells from the fifth century B.C., and Han dynasty pottery dancing figures and musicians.

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices features performances by leading international musicians, including some artists traveling outside China for the first time. Festival performances will feature many genres of music—from Western symphonic and chamber music influenced by Chinese culture to Chinese traditional folk music and contemporary music, including premieres by internationally recognized Chinese composers. The festival exploration also includes a wide variety of other offerings on each coast, including traditional marionette theater, dance, film screenings, calligraphy, panel discussions, and art exhibitions, offering insights into a world that mixes the ancient and the modern, the traditional and the cutting-edge.

With over 30 events, the reach of Ancient Paths, Modern Voices in New York will be extended throughout the city through partnerships between Carnegie Hall and other prestigious cultural institutions: Asia Society, China Institute, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, The Joyce Theater, The Juilliard School, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Chinese in America, and The Paley Center for Media, as well as through a series of free Neighborhood Concerts presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in the community venues of Flushing Town Hall in Queens as well as Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement and The Performance Project @ University Settlement on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

The California line-up for Ancient Paths, Modern Voices, presented by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and supported by presenting sponsor South Coast Plaza, will feature performances by major artists and ensembles appearing at Carnegie Hall as well as new programming created through the Philharmonic Society’s relationships with Orange County Performing Arts Center, Orange County Museum of Art, South Coast Repertory Theatre, the Colburn School of Music in Los Angeles, and other Southern Californian cultural institutions. This relationship between Carnegie Hall and Segerstrom Center for the Arts marks the first time that Carnegie Hall festival programming will be offered to audiences outside New York City.

For the most up-to-date information on festival events, video interviews and performance excerpts from featured musicians, and insights into Chinese culture and festival programs, go to Carnegie Hall's special web site: carnegiehall.org/chinafestival

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture
October 21 to November 10, 2009
Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall

China in Chelsea and Beyond
Various New York art galleries

 

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