New York Philharmonic Will Present Lunar New Year Concert And Gala

The New York Philharmonic will present its annual Lunar New Year Concert and Gala at David Geffen Hall, welcoming the Year of the Horse with a program led by conductor Long Yu.

The event will honor Long Yu, artistic director of the China Philharmonic Orchestra and music director of the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, along with Starr International Foundation, the presenting sponsor of the Philharmonic’s Lunar New Year Gala since 2014.

Long Yu will conduct the concert, which will feature soprano Kathleen Kim, baritone Changyong Liao, and morin khuur player Hasibagen. The performance will take place in the Wu Tsai Theater at David Geffen Hall.

Concert Program

The program will open with two orchestral works: Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival Overture and the U.S. premiere of selections from Elliot Leung’s Chinese Kitchen.

Following the orchestral opening, vocal works will juxtapose Eastern and Western repertoire. Baritone Changyong Liao will perform Lu Zaiyi’s Prelude to the Water Melody and an aria from Rossini’s The Barber of Seville. Soprano Kathleen Kim, making her New York Philharmonic debut, will sing New Arirang, Phil Young’s orchestration of the traditional Korean folk song, as well as an additional aria from The Barber of Seville. Kim and Liao will then appear together in a duet from Lehár’s The Merry Widow.

The program will conclude with a performance by morin khuur player Hasibagen, also making his Philharmonic debut, in Rhapsody for Morin Khuur and Orchestra: Longing, arranged by Zou Ye.

About the Honorees