Carleton’s acclaimed Chinese Music Ensemble will perform Sunday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. in the Concert Hall. Under the direction of internationally renowned composer and musician Gao Hong, the concert will also feature guest artists from the Shu Yin Guzheng Ensemble of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music in China. The program—featuring music from China, Korea, Cuba, and Argentina—is free and open to the public.
The Chinese Music Ensemble performs on traditional bowed strings, plucked strings, winds and percussion instruments. Their repertoire typically includes Chinese classical, folk, percussion, minority, and contemporary music.
Under the direction of world-class Pipa artist, Gao Hong, the Carleton Chinese Music Ensemble has performed to much acclaim at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Mall of America, the University of Minnesota, and at numerous conferences and Chinese celebrations through the region.
The Shu Yin Guzheng Ensemble was founded in 2000 by Jiao Li, celebrating traditional music and Sichuan culture with a musical form honoring the Guzheng—a Chinese plucked-string instrument, also known as the Chinese zither, with a more than 2500-year history. The Shu Yin Guzheng Ensemble is the first professional Guzheng ensemble in Sichuan, and has been invited to perform in extensively domestically, as well as international concerts in Korea, Japan, South Africa, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Jiao Li is a highly revered and nationally renowned Guzheng performer who comes from a family of musicians. Jiao is the head of Chengdu Guzheng Society, professor of Guzheng at Sichuan Conservatory of Music, director of Office of Plucked String Instruments at Sichuan Conservatory of Music, and visiting professor at the College of Arts of Yunnan University of Nationalities and Guangxi Normal University.
Chinese Music Ensemble Director Gao Hong is also a Senior Lecturer in Chinese musical instruments at Carleton. She is a graduate of China’s premier music school, the Central Conservatory of Music, and has received numerous honors and awards for her work as a musician as well as several commissions as a composer. A world-renowned Pipa player, Gao Hong has performed throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, including with such groups as the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Heidelberg Philharmonic and the (San Francisco) Women’s Philharmonic
This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of Music. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4475. The Concert Hall is located on First Street between Winona and Nevada Streets in Northfield.