Bard East/West Ensemble Chamber Opera and Dance Concert at Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center

The eighth annual China Now Music Festival, Music in Motion, concludes with a dynamic performance from the Bard East/West Ensemble (BEWE), comprising of a Western string quintet, seven Chinese instruments, and two percussionists, in a 3-part program of contemporary music from China. Propulsive Chinese percussion opens the concert, followed by a new telling in chamber opera form of David Henry Huang’s poignant play M. Butterfly. The final piece, Four Seasons in Lingering Garden, receives a choreographic treatment to engage two dancers and the entire ensemble in a dramatic representation of the changing landscape in a traditional Chinese garden. 

Program:

Nai-Chung Kuan
From The Age of the Dragon double percussion concerto
1. The Sun 
4. The Earth 
       Arr. Shutong Li
       Shiqi Zhong, Chinese percussion

Intermission

Ma Hanrui 
M. Butterfly, a chamber opera
       Pan Geng, libretto
       Gallimard (the diplomat): Eric Carey, tenor
       Feng (Peking opera nandan): Yu Xiangwei, Peking Opera performer
       Judge: Nathaniel Sullivan, baritone

Intermission

Wang Danhong
Four Seasons in Lingering Garden symphonic poem
1. Spring Breeze Awakens the Garden
2. Dappled Green in Summer Shade
3. Fragrance of Osmanthus on the Wind
4. Watching the Snow from the Pavilion
       Arr. Shutong Li
       Dai Jian, choreographer
       Wang Kan, female dancer
       Peng Mi, male dancer

Performers:
Bard East/West Ensemble
Jindong Cai, conductor
Shiqi Zhong, Chinese percussion
Yu Xiangwei, Peking opera performer
Eric Carey, tenor
Nathaniel Sullivan, baritone
Wang Kan, dancer
Peng Mi, dancer