Grand Chinese New Year Concert Filharmonia Narodowa

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Grand Chinese New Year Concert
China National Traditional Orchestra

The dragon is one of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiacal cycle. People born in the Year of the Dragon are considered to be courageous and confident, possessing strong leadership qualities, as well as being intelligent and wise. The Dragon Years are 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, and 2024.

Since the ancient times, civilisations and peoples all over the world have adopted different beliefs and customs, creating their own calendars and festivals. Their multitude forms a celestial map of human civilisation. In the eastern part of the world, Chinese people have continuously contributed to this spiritual heritage of humanity for thousands of years. The Chinese calendar, rooted in an ancient agrarian civilisation, is – as the Chinese people themselves believe – the result of the actions of a dragon, gliding between Heaven and Earth and sowing seeds. These seeds, touching the ground, began to grow, giving rise to Chinese stories, legends and the most important days in the cyclical scheme of the year – the Chinese festivals. Festivals are a testament to how we pass through time, how we experience days and nights, emotions and loves – for family, country and the world.

The ancients used to say that music represents the harmony of Heaven and Earth by bringing the two together. Let us appreciate the Chinese festival music today and let it accompany us throughout the year, harmonising our breath with both – Earth and Heaven.

The starting point of the event ‘The Great Harmony of Heaven and Earth: Chinese Festivals’ is the Chinese Lunar New Year, and its axis is time. It focuses on eight representative traditional Chinese festivals — Spring Festival, Lantern Festival, Qingming Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Qixi Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Double Ninth Festival, and Winter Solstice. This creative concert is a musical reflection of the festive imagery, capturing the essence of each celebration through the power of music.

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Tang Feng

Tang Feng has been awarded the title of National First-Class Performer, is a Vice-President of the China National Traditional Orchestra (CNTO), a recipient of the National Special Grant Programme, and other honours awarded by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee.

He began studying the erhu at the age of 7 and graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in 1990. In the same year, he joined the CNTO, and six years later, at the age of 28, he became principal violinist, the youngest musician in the orchestra’s history. In 1998, he participated in the first Chinese New Year Ethnic Music Concert as a National First-Class Performer. In the years 1996–2002, he was the principal musician of the Asian Orchestra, which was composed of artists from China, Japan and South Korea.

As a soloist, he has performed at home and abroad with renowned orchestras such as the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, Guangdong National Orchestra, Tianjin Song and Dance Theatre National Orchestra, Taipei Chinese Orchestra, Kaohsiung Chinese Orchestra, Hsinchu Youth Chinese Orchestra, Taipei Youth Chinese Orchestra and many others.

As principal musician and soloist of the CNTO, he has performed in more than thirty countries in Europe, America, Asia and Africa in many prestigious venues, including Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York, Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, Berliner Philharmonie, Musikverein in Vienna, Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris, Odeon Herod Atticus in Athens and Sapporo Concert Hall Kitara (Japan), contributing significantly to the global promotion of Chinese traditional music.

In 2023, at the opening ceremony of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain, he performed Sunshine Forever Shines on Our Friendship with Spanish musicians. In front of the Egyptian pyramids, he successfully performed Horse Racing with the CNTO. The artist also took part in the opening of the ‘Oriental Melody’ International Music Festival organised by UNESCO in Samarkand (Uzbekistan), where he received the Highest Achievement Award, the only award for an instrumental performance. Mountain Song, his solo composition for erhu won the Best Composition Award at the Fule Tong Cup International Chinese National Instrumental Solo Competition.

 

[2024]

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