Corruption at China’s Top Classical Music Academies
At That’s Beijing (via James Palmer), James Tiscione recently described allegations of...
classical music
Classical Music with Chinese Characteristics
While John Garnaut focuses on Xi Jinping’s former study group of “Second Generation Reds”, Sheila Melvin at ChinaFile looks at another gathering of China’s political elite: the short-lived Three Highs...
Wu Man: Tradition, on a Fresh Note
Pipa player Wu Man was recently recognized as Instrumentalist of the Year by Musical America. The New York Times reviews her recent performance at Symphony Space: Newly named instrumentalist of the year by Musical America, which...
In Search Of A Stage, Western Opera Singers Try China
NPR reports on Western opera singers, including American soprano Maria McDaniel, who are learning contemporary Chinese opera, both in response to the lack of jobs at home and to the Chinese government’s efforts to bolster...
Yundi Li: ‘I Think I’m Not a Normal Artist’
The Independent profiles pianist Li Yundi, who has not taken the spotlight of his contemporary Lang Lang, but is equally admired in the classical music world: As the son of a steel worker in provincial Chongqing, Yundi Li was...
Video: Wu Tong (吴彤) and Yo Yo Ma Perform Yanzi (燕子)
Vocalist Wu Tong has a diverse musical background, from his start as a vocalist for the Beijing rock band 轮回 (Again) to his current gig singing with Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble and as a soloist with the New York...
In New York: Contemporary Heroes from China’s Music Scene
For Danwei, Nick Frisch reviews two recent Chinese music events in New York in recent weeks: A show by indie bands PK14 and Carsick Cars, and a festival celebrating intersections between Chinese and Western musical traditions at...
What Was Once Forbidden
In the Wall Street Journal, Ilaria Maria Sala profiles composers Guo Wenjing and Chen Qigang, who are being featured at Carnegie Hall with others of their generation as part of the Modern Voices: Class of 1978 festival. From the...
Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble Heads for the Proms
The Times interviews cellist Yo-Yo Ma about his Silk Road Project prior to a concert in London: But in Ma’s mind there’s a much deeper raison d’être for the Silk Road. He is acutely conscious of having personal roots in three...
The Met Grooms a Young Star
The Wall Street Journal profiles opera singer Shen Yang, who will have his debut with New York’s Metropolitan Opera next month after being discovered in China by world-renowned soprano Renee Fleming: Ms. Fleming calls...
Chicago to China: A Giddy Musical Exchange
The New York Times reports on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first visit to China: Among the top orchestras in the United States, it has the most musicians born in China, according to Li-Kuo Chang, the orchestra’s...
China and the Philharmonic, in Harmony
The New York Times reports on the New York Philharmonic’s warm reception in Shanghai: The Philharmonic was making its debut appearance in Shanghai, and it was far more than a simple in-and-out pair of concerts. A local...
Lang Lang’s Kung Fu Fighting
Wunderkind pianist Lang Lang is known for being a dramatic performer. He puts on quite a show in this video:
Yo-Yo Ma Will Take Silk Road to China – Martin Steinberg
AP reports that Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Project will play at the opening of the Special Olympics in Shanghai next month: Over the subsequent 10 days, Ma and his more than dozen colleagues will give concerts and workshops in Suzhou, Hong Kong and at Beijing’s Forbidden City, performing some of the songs on […]
Traveling Across Cultures for a Son’s Star Turn – Daniel J. Wakin
The New York Times tells the story of pianist Xu Hong and his parents, who came from China to watch him perform with the Julliard Orchestra: The Xu family’s story ” of parental sacrifice; of a son’s migration to the West for training; of his endless, single-minded study ” brings together the many strands of […]
Pilgrim With an Oboe, Citizen of the World – Daniel J. Wakin
From the New York Times, the third in a series examining classical music and musicians from China: It is an extraordinary place to be for a young man who just a little more than a decade ago was playing his oboe in a practice room in Beijing. But Mr. Wang’s hiring was also a clarion […]
Increasingly in the West, the Players Are From the East – Daniel J. Wakin
The New York Times has published the second article in a series, “looking at China’s embrace of Western classical music”: With stunning swiftness China’s surging ranks of classical musicians have found a home in Western concert halls, conservatories and opera houses, jolting a musical tradition born in the courts and churches of Europe. Large solo […]
Classical Music Looks Toward China With Hope – Joseph Kahn and Daniel J. Wakin
From the New York Times: With the same energy, drive and sheer population weight that has made it an economic power, China has become a considerable force in Western classical music. Conservatories are bulging. Provincial cities demand orchestras and concert halls. Pianos and violins made in China fill shipping containers leaving its ports. The Chinese […]
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