Renowned Qingdao Symphony Orchestra to Join the Choral Arts Society for Chinese New Year Concert -- Single Performance at the Kennedy Center February 1

    WASHINGTON, DC, January 14, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- To celebrate the spirit of international fellowship and cooperation during the Chinese New Year, The Choral Arts Society of Washington announced today that it is joining China's critically acclaimed Qingdao Symphony Orchestra to present "Image China: Chinese New Year Concert 2009." The performance - a fun, festive, and invigorating mix of Chinese and American orchestral compositions - will take place Sunday, February 1, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

The Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Yongyan Hu, is making its inaugural American tour. Since its inception in 2005, the QSO has become internationally recognized for combining world-class musical excellence with a progressive spirit. "We were honored to be chosen to partner with the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra for their American premier at the Kennedy Center," said the Choral Arts Society's Artistic Director and Founder Norman Scribner. "Music is certainly the international language of hope and cooperation, and we are proud to do our part to be a bridge between our cultures."

The program's American works include Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and a concert version of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess. The Chinese selections include a piano concerto by Chen Yi and a Xiaogang Ye concerto for "pipa," a four-stringed instrument of ancient Chinese origin.

Featured performers include: Hongyan Zhang, pipa; Sa Chen, piano; Janice Chandler-Eteme, soprano; Alvy Powell, baritone; and The Choral Arts Society Chorus.

The Choral Arts Society of Washington is one of the nation's pre-eminent symphonic choruses. Under the direction of Maestro Scribner and comprising more than 190 professional-caliber volunteer singers, the Society has sung with the world's leading orchestras and conductors, recorded fifteen acclaimed CDs, and launched a highly successful national radio program. The Chorus most recently performed Mahler's Eighth Symphony under Valery Gergiev with the London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at Saint Paul's Cathedral as part of the 2008 City of London Festival (a live recording of which will be released on compact disc in 2009). In addition to the annual subscription series at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, Choral Arts performs regularly in such televised events as A Capitol Fourth (PBS) and The Kennedy Center Honors (CBS) and appears nationally and internationally with the world's leading conductors and orchestras including Leonard Slatkin and the BBC Festival Orchestra and Chorus at London Proms, the late Mstislav Rostropovich at Red Square, and John Adams and the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.

Ticket prices for "Image China: Chinese New Year Concert 2009" range from $15 to $65 and are on sale now through the Choral Arts Society's Box Office at 202.244.3669, through Kennedy Center Instant Charge at 202.467.4600, and at www.choralarts.org. Student, senior, and group discounts are available. Orchestra seats start at $30.

www.imagechina2009.com

For more information, please contact Karen Bender at [email protected] or 703-220-0080.

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