The Knights Orchestra with Wu Man to Play Louisville's Comstock Hall, 2/17

The Knights Orchestra with Wu Man Playing the Pipa (Chinese Lute) will perform at Comstock Hall (U of L Music School) on Sunday, February 17th at 3:00 p.m. FREE for Speed Museum Members/$10 Non-members.

The Program:

Igor Stravinsky: Concerto in E-flat (Dumbarton Oaks)

Lou Harrison: Concerto for Pipa and Orchestra

Claude Debussy: Prelude a l'apres-midi d'un faune

Wu Man: Blue and Green (arranged for Pipa and Orchestra)

Praised for their "polished performances and imaginative programming" (New York Times) The Knights are a "supremely talented" (Gramophone) orchestra of Friends from a broad Spectrum of the New York music world who cultivate collaborative music making and creatively engage audiences in the shared joy of musical performance. Led by an open-minded spirit of camaraderie and exploration, they expand the orchestral concert experience with programs that encompass their roots in the Classical tradition and their passion for musical discovery. For their inspired programming, innovative formats and "crusading musical mission," The Knights have been hailed as "the future of classical music in America" (Los Angeles Times).

The Knights perform in a wide range of concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, 92nd Street Y, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Brooklyn Lyceum, Central Park, Le Poisson Rouge, The Stone, Tonic, the Whitney Museum and Mass MoCA. Also in demand on the international stage, they have appeared at the Dresden Musikfestspiele, Cologne Philharmonie, Dusseldorf Tonhalle, and The National Gallery in Dublin, and have toured Germany with cellist Jan Vogler. Their expanding presence on the music festival scene has included performances at the Ravinia Festival, the Stillwater Music Festival in Minnesota, and Caramoor's Fall Festival.

Recognized as the world's premier pipa virtuoso and leading ambassador of Chinese music, Grammy Award-nominated musician Wu Man has carved out a career as a composer, soloist, and educator giving her lute-like instrument - which has a history of two thousand years in China - a new role in both traditional and contemporary music. Through numerous trips to her native China, Wu Man has premiered hundreds of new works for the pipa, while spearheading multimedia projects to both preserve and create awareness of China's ancient musical traditions. Her adventurous spirit and virtuosity have led to collaborations across artistic disciplines allowing Wu Man to reach wider audiences as she works to break through cultural and musical borders.

In May 2012 Wu Man released her album Borderlands, the final installment of the acclaimed ten-volume "Music of Central Asia" ethnographic series, produced by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture and the Smithsonian Institution Center for Folklife and Culture Heritage that traces the history of the pipa in China. The Borderlands project led Wu Man to the outskirts of the country to collaborate with musical cultures along the Silk Road including Tajikistan and China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwestern China. The result is a DVD and sound recording of folk musicians who would not Otherwise be heard outside these regions, and who represent the very beginnings of the pipa's musical tradition. Musicians featured on the album include Abduvali Abdurashidov, Sirojiddin Juraev, Ma Ersa, Abdulla Majnun, Hesenjan Tursun, Sanubar Tursun, and Yasin Yaqup.

SOURCE: Louisville Culture Vulture