UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—Sounds of China, one of the Asian country’s contemporary folk ensembles, will make its Penn State debut at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5, in Schwab Auditorium. The performance will feature new arrangements of traditional Chinese melodies and will coincide with Chinese New Year, which denotes the year of the pig.
The Beijing-based ensemble, which has performed to critical acclaim across the United States, is recognized for cultivating appreciation and increasing understanding of traditional Chinese music and culture. The group incorporates traditional Chinese instruments—such as erhu (a two-stringed spike fiddle), liuqin (a four-stringed mandolin), xun (a globular, vessel flute), pipa (a plucked four-string lute) and guhzeng (a zither)—with Western orchestral instruments.
The musicians are led by Ma Jiuyue, artistic director and resident composer of the China National Traditional Orchestra. Jiuyue, once called “the genius composer of world music” by Grammy Awards judge Jeff Rona, is known as one of the pioneers of Chinese neo-folk music.
For more information, visit Center for the Performing Arts online or call 814-863-0255.
This presentation is part of the Center for the Performing Arts Diversity and Inclusion Collaborative. Penn State’s Equal Opportunity Planning Committee provides lead funding for the collaborative. Sandra Zaremba and Richard Brown provide support. Find more information about the collaborative.
This presentation is supported by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund, a program of Arts Midwest that is funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional contributions from Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Crane Group.
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