Kronos Quartet and Wu Man Concert Inspires Related Events Examining China's Musical and Cultural Traditions

Kronos Quartet and Wu Man return to the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Presenting Series on Saturday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. A new program weaves together China-focused compositions by Philip Glass, Wu Man, and the reconstruction of A Chinese Home, a 2009 commission by the University of Notre Dame that was conceived of by Wu Man, David Harrington, and Chen Shi-Zheng.

The concert's planned program begins with Glass's Orion: China. Of the 90-minute work commissioned by the Cultural Olympiad 2004 and premiered just prior to the Athens Games that year, Glass has written, "Since 1964 I have been actively engaged in musical encounters with composers from musical traditions different than my own. I began working with Ravi Shankar in 1964 as his music assistant on the film Chappaqua. Our friendship flourished and led to a musical recording Passages in 1989. I completed an opera Sound of a Voice featuring Wu Man, which premiered at American Repertory Theater in Boston. Though we have known each other for years and often talked about working together, this was our first opportunity to do so.

"Orion, the largest constellation in the night sky, can be seen in all seasons from both the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It seems that almost every civilization has created myths and taken inspiration from Orion. As the work progressed, each of the composer/performers, including myself, drew from that inspiration in creating their work. In this way, the starry heavens, seen from all over our planet, inspired us in making and presenting a multicultural, international musical work."

Wu Man's 2015 work, Four Chinese Paintings, the pipa virtuoso's first for string quartet, continues the concert theme. She wrote, ""Four Chinese Paintings is a suite consisting of four short pieces. In traditional Chinese music, there is often a poetic title that serves as a prompt foundation for musical content and style. I decided to continue this traditional form in this piece by presenting four traditional Chinese paintings.

"The inspiration for these paintings came from several styles of Chinese folk music, including Uyghur music (western China, border of Central Asia) and tea-house music from my hometown of Hangzhou. My wish is for the audience to experience-to 'see'-the Chinese landscapes, and to hear each of the four stories in their local dialects. More important, listeners will experience Chinese culture."

A Chinese Home, inspired by Yin Yu Tang, an 18th-century home from southeastern China, which painstakingly deconstructed and then rebuilt at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem Massachusetts, is a tour de force that closes the concert experience.

David Harrington, the founder of the Kronos Quartet, wrote, "I felt A Chinese Home should be dramatic and bold, and we would need to re-imagine our roles as performers. I wanted the piece to begin during the intermission, with a soundscape that would give an immense sense of tension, construction, activity, movement-layers of sound-to create an impression of the Grand Canyon-ness of Chinese culture."

In addition to the concert performance, beginning Thursday, March 23 the DeBartolo Performing Art Center becomes the hub for related events, which will deepen the audience's experience of and appreciation for China's rich cultural history:

Film Screening: The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (2015) | Thursday, March 23 at 7 p.m.

A documentary focusing on Yo-Yo- Ma's efforts to highlight overlooked world music traditions and artists, including Wu Man.

Kronos and Wu Man-A Conversation | Friday, March 24 at 6 p.m.

The Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies presents a roundtable conversation exploring the cultural and historical context to A Chinese Home through contemporaneous literary and artistic expression. Kronos's Harrington and Wu Man are joined by Xiaobing Tang, Helmut F. Stern Professor of Modern Chinese Studies and Comparative Literature at the University of Michigan and Michel Hockx, Director of the Liu Institute and Professor of Chinese Literature at the University of Notre Dame.

The Kronos Quartet with Wu Man performance was made possible by the Teddy Ebersol Endowment for Excellence in the Performing Arts.

Co-sponsored by the Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies.

Ticket Information

Kronos Quartet with Wu Man: Regular tickets are $35. Child/student tickets are $15.

The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (2015): Regular tickets are $7, senior tickets are $5, and child/student tickets are $4.

Kronos and Wu Man-A Conversation: This is a free but ticketed event.

Visit performingarts.nd.edu for more information or call the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office at (574) 631-2800Monday-Friday, noon-6 p.m.

About the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center

Since opening in September 2004, the University of Notre Dame's DeBartolo Performing Arts Center has become an integral part of the University's vision and commitment to becoming a preeminent research university. It is the University's leading presenter of world-class artistic programming, one with an institutional focus on contemporary works. As an academic space, the center enhances the scholarship, teaching, and practice of the performing and cinematic arts. As a community space, the center welcomes more than 100,000 patrons annually, including thousands of K-12 students in education and related artistic programs. Presenting Series and Browning Cinema programs are curated to increase the center's capacity to educate, enlighten and engage.

Additional support for the Presenting Series provided by media sponsor WSBT-TV; visiting artist accommodations by The Morris Inn, program printing underwriting by Express Press Inc., WNIT Public Television, and Grass Roots Media.

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