2010
Seattle Chinese Orchestra 2009
Saturday, February 7 - 7:00 PM
Enjoy an evening with the only traditional Chinese orchestra in the Pacific Northwest. Bring your entire family to this wonderful spectacle of extraordinary music, played on instruments unique to China. Hear the zither struck with tiny hammers, and the flute made from bamboo. See and learn how the instruments are plucked and bowed.
The orchestra currently has over forty members, who are fortunate to have as their Music Director Warren Chang, who can be heard on the sound track to the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The orchestra is also lucky to be conducted by Roger Nelson, former conductor of the Bainbridge Island Symphony Orchestra.
Warren Chang, president of the Chinese Music and Arts Association, is an expert player of the er-hu, a long, slender, 2-stringed, bowed instrument akin to a violin. The er-hu is famous as a solo instrument, and Mr. Chang can be heard on the sound tracks to many Chinese movies, including The Soong Sisters and Shanghai Red. He has appeared with several American symphonies, combining the sounds of Eastern and Western instruments, and earned the Governor’s Award in 2005, presented by Christine Gregoire.
Roger Nelson conducted the Bainbridge Island Symphony Orchestra for thirteen seasons, and now conducts the Seattle Chinese Orchestra. His jump from one to the other began when he became the first foreign music professor to teach at Qufu University in Shandong, China. While there, Mr. Nelson established an orchestra to perform Haydn’s Surprise Symphony. When the orchestra lacked the instruments called for in the score, he substituted them with Chinese traditional instruments, and accordions.
The repertoire of the Seattle Chinese Orchestra is very rich and versatile, including pieces from traditional “classical” Chinese music, regional and folk music, and pieces by contemporary Chinese composers. For more information, see the Orchestra’s website at www.uschinamusic.org
Special thanks to John L. Scott.
The 2009 Chinese New Year Festival and Parade was sponsored by:
Bainbridge Island
Kids
Discovery
Museum
Bainbridge
Island
Lodging