29th Annual Guzheng Concert

Program Will Feature Local Musicians and Shanghai Virtuoso Liu Le

The Chinese Culture Center is proud to co-sponsor the 29th Annual Concert: The Sound of the Zheng. with the San Francisco Guzheng Music Society. The event, which will be held at the Chinese Culture Center (750 Kearny Street, San Francisco), is themed “From Shanghai to San Francisco” and features Maestro Weishan Liu and young virtuoso Liu Le,  along with the Golden Flower and the Purple Orchid youth groups. The musicians will lead the audience through a program ranging from traditional to contemporary guzheng music.

Date: May 1, 2011

Time: 3-5pm

The highlight of this concert is Liu Le, who will presents the United States premiere of four new guzheng music pieces. Two of these pieces, the “Sleeve Dance Fantasies” and “Guang Ying Re Ge,” are composed or arranged by Liu Le; the other pieces, “Ballad of the Enchanting Lotus” and “Sacrificial Offering,” are by Shanghai composer Li Lei and American Chinese composer Shen Yiwen specially for Liu Le.

Liu Le is a graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he studied under famed Chinese music professor Wang Wei. He is the winner of the Golden Bell Award in 2009. His honors also include the 2003 Chu-Yun Cup, the 2007 Sixth Asia Rising Star Music Contest, the 2008 Shanghai’s Spring International Music Festival Zither National Contest, the 2009 CCTV Traditional Music Competition, and other top domestic and international music events.

Liu Le has performed concertos with numerous orchestras around the world, including the French Radio Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Germany’s Rundfunk Symphony Orchestra Berlin, the Goteborg Symphony Orchestra, the Odense Symphony Orchestra, the Finnish Chamber Orchestra, and the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. He has also performed in international music festivals such as the ISCM World New Music Day, Music Host New Music Festival, Ultraschall New Music Festival, Great Lakes Art Festival, and the Hong Kong International Art Festival.

In the past four years, Liu Le has world-premiered more than 10 solo pieces and 4 symphony concertos, recorded three albums and several singles, and held more than 20 solo concerts.

Don’t miss this rare opportunity to listen to this exciting artist. Regular tickets are $25 each, VIP tickets are $50.