Suzhou Chinese Orchestra to stage Chinese folk music in Portland

The Suzhou Chinese Orchestra will present music lovers in the US with a feast of Chinese folk music with the “Charm of Chinese Music Concert” on July 27 and 28 at Lincoln Performance Hall, College of the Arts of Portland State University.

The orchestra will stage the repertoire Festive Overture that has been the most popular among major orchestras in the past three decades since its creation.

It will feature the folk music of Peony Pavilion·Touring the Garden (Kunqu and Chinese Orchestra), which is adapted from a play of the world intangible heritage Kun Opera; Dream of Chuang Tzu, which interprets the mysterious aesthetics and ancient Eastern philosophy that “man is an integral part of nature”; Candide Overture,a work by renowned American musician Leonard Bernstein; Stephen Foster’s My Old Kentucky home and Oh, Susanna, reinterpreted with Chinese national music philosophy; and Variations of Emotion and Macao Capriccio, folk orchestra works of high artistic quality created by the new generation of renowned Chinese composers.

“I imagine that I join many Portlanders in never having experienced an orchestra that is composed of both Western and traditional Chinese instruments. It will also be interesting to listen to both Chinese Symphony in Si-Zhu (si zhu and Western compositions. I am so looking forward to their performance,” Portland-Suzhou Sister City Association President Robert J. Fraser said.

According to the association, Lincoln Hall, which can accommodate 465, sold out for the concert many weeks ago.

The concert is part of the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the establishment of the PortlandSuzhou Sister City Association and relationship.

“This celebration is more important than ever to celebrate the many years of friendship and cooperation between our two cities, Portland and Suzhou, which help make our cities better places to live, work and play.” Fraser said.

Suzhou is a charming city boasting both a long history and modern civilization in China. Recognized as a “paradise on earth”, the 2,500year old city is renowned for its classic picturesque gardens with bridges over flowing streams and tranquility.

Meanwhile, Suzhou is also a dynamic modern metropolis with China’s second largest industrial output value and seventh largest aggregate economy.

The two cities forged sister-city ties in 1988 with the initial purpose of promoting cultural exchange. The friendship and ties between the two cities had deepened and strengthened. Portland offered to help develop a sewage system in the city famed for its canals, pagodas and meticulously designed gardens. Artisans from Suzhou built the Lan Symphony in Si-Zhu Su Chinese Garden in Portland’s Old Town, opening a window into classical China.

The two cities won a 2014 USChina Sister Cities Award in “economy and trade” granted by Sister Cities International.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler led a delegation to Suzhou from April 22-27. He was accompanied by 30 leaders in cultural, educational and business organizations.

In Suzhou, Wheeler and Mayor Li Yaping planted a friendship tree as well as signed a proclamation commemorating the sister-city anniversary and committing the cities to further collaboration.

The Suzhou orchestra is a municipal public welfare professional orchestra jointly established by Suzhou and Suzhou New District (SND). The orchestra features both traditional and modern elements and aims to inherit the essence of folk music as well as promote folk music innovation.

It is responsible for staging Chinese folk music classics and local folk music of Suzhou as well as promoting Chinese folk music to the world.

Dedicated to the inheritance and innovative development of Chinese folk music, the orchestra has recruited more than 80 members, including renowned musicians and students from top-class music schools across the country. Famous conductor Pang Kapang is artistic director and principal conductor and the celebrated erhu (traditional Chinese two-string instrument) player and composer Zhu Changyao is the art instructor.

but it probably can reach world audiences in the future with its unique charm. I believe Chinese symphonic music has a brilliant future and will contribute what it can to the human culture of the symphony art of the world. We even can think of and expect that the Chinese symphonic music can create a totally new symphony of its own kind.

The concert titled was a great success. It is amazing for such a young orchestra to have such refined techniques and high artistic approach. All the members of the orchestra are so young and talented! Maestro Pang Kapang, music and artistic director of the orchestra, plays a critical part in building and leading this orchestra both in artistic management and operational management. The last but not the least, the local government of Suzhou city gives strong and constructive support and makes all efforts by musicians a big award! I personally saw how hard working, enthusiastic and concentrated the orchestra members were. They worked so hard on the difficult passages of the music, rehearsals until midnight with demanding artistic requirements and mutual supports. The orchestra has a great teamwork spirit rarely seen in most orchestras. Beside the Concerto by Zhang Zhao, the concert also featured some other great music by other composers such as by Hao Wei Ya for mezzo-soprano and orchestra of traditional Chinese music instruments.

This piece was well organized and vividly expressed what the composer has tried to successfully bring out: the charming symphonic sound of the orchestra of Chinese traditional music instruments.

by Zhao Ji Ping shows the deep cultivation of Chinese culture by the composer. I heard it played by a Western symphony orchestra, but (this was) the first time by a Chinese orchestra mixed with Western and Chinese instruments, which sounded great and better for sure.” Music critic

Qin No.1 for Yang Lily Root Looking for Pagoda Tree Jingyang Zhao,

This young orchestra filled with energy and vitality shows its ambition under the leadership of maestro Png Kapang, its executive and artistic director. From the high quality of the latest concert by SCO and the feedback from top media, it shows a promising future for this orchestra highly exposed to the big publicity. We believe soon it will become one of the best loved orchestras in China and will vividly tell stories of China through its quality performance on international stages.” Composer and professor of Central Conservatory of Music of China

Weiya Hao,

Recently, I attended a concert given by Suzhou Chinese orchestra, which was titled meaning string and representing bamboo). What I was impressed with was the excellent performance by the newly founded Suzhou Chinese Orchestra. This concert renewed my...