Sunday Salon: Violinist Chai Liang + Wings of Music

Posted: May 11th, 2013 | Author: LumDimSum | Filed under: Music, Upcoming Events | Tags: Chai Liang, China Cello Philharmonic, China Daily, Chu Yibing, Classical Music, Des Bishop, Duo Merindah, Gao Can, Li Jie, Liu Zhe, LumDimSum 1-on-1, Minh Le Hoang, My Dad was Nearly James Bond, Nancy Pellegrini, Nearby the Tree, Pizzolla, Sanlitun, String 139, Sunday Salon, Teresa Rabe, The Bookworm, The Irish Network, Time Out Beijing, violinist, Wings of Music | 2 Comments »

This Month’s Time Out Critic’s Choice Event

Time Out Beijing/Shanghai’s Classical and Performance editor Nancy Pellegrini couldn’t be more delighted about her newest catch for this month’s Sunday Salon Classical performance (and I’m pretty stoked myself!). This Sunday at The Bookworm, classical music lovers have the chance to appreciate some of China’s top musical talent – internationally recognized violinist Chai Liang 柴亮 together with classical guitar virtuosa Li Jie.

An all-star event proudly organized by Nancy together with music critic and impresario Sam Su and promoter Zhang Kexin, they take you behind China’s music in an interactive lecture series and intimate performance by both of these star musicians together with a few of their select students from their Wings of Music Programme, a non-profit organisation linked with the conservatory that provides free instruments and high-level music lessons to children of migrant workers and the rural poor.

“Head of Central Conservatory of Music’s Violin Department Chai Liang joins classical guitarist Jie Li and he brings five of his best “Wings” students from the Wings of Music Programme for an eclectic concert that includes pieces by tango master Piazzolla. Wings of Music is a non-profit organisation that’s 500-strong and counting, providing children of migrant workers and the rural poor free music lessons and instruments. Come support some very special violinists!” – Nancy Pelligrini, Time Out Beijing/Time Out Shanghai’s Classical and Performance editor

Violinist Chai Liang will Bring his Best “Wings” Students to Perform

Having previously invited a prestigious line-up of concert pianists, violin soloists, music composers, pipa masters, operatic tenors, and on more than one occasion, the heart-stopping China Cello Philharmonic led by the very charismatic and delightful Chu Yibing, Time Out Beijing’s Sunday Salons are some of the most incredible Beijing events around town. It still baffles me that Time Out is able to continuously invite these super famous, multi-talented musicians to perform in such an intimate setting for an unbelievably low price – RMB 50 (or RMB 40 if you come with the latest issue of Time Out Magazine in hand).  Having attended a handful of these events in previous years, I consider myself among the few, highly privileged to have been present for these musical Sunday Salons.  I really can’t imagine a better way to spend a Sunday evening.

“This is a unique opportunity to listen to the great musicians from China and ask them questions directly about their incredible talents.” – Nancy Pellegrini, Time Out BJ & SH’s Classical & Performance Editor

Always held on a Sunday evening around 7:30PM, Chai Liang, Li Jie and and his “Wings” students will be at The Bookworm to perform pieces by tango master Pizzolla followed by an opportunity to discuss their inspirations behind the music together with their audience.

Keep in mind that you’d normally only be able to listen to these musicians perform in a massive concert hall among an audience of thousands. This is a rare chance to not only hear these incredibly talented and famous musicians right in front of your face, but you can also meet them, shake their hands and ask them questions to better understand their background and experiences as professional musicians who are invited to travel and perform all over the world.

*Remember: If you bring this month’s May issue of Time Out Beijing Magazine, then you only pay RMB 40 to attend this event!

Sunday Salon Event Details:

• Date:  Sunday, May 12

• Time:  7:30PM

• Price: RMB 50 (or RMB 40 if you bring copy of the May issue of Time Out Magazine)

• Location:  The Bookworm

• Address:  Sanlitun Nanjie, 三里屯南街4号楼

• Tel: 6586-9507

• Website: Click here

About Liang Chai:

Violinist Liang Chai is among the foremost artists of his generation. He was a top prize winner at both the Yehudi Menuhin International Violin Competition and the Japan International Music Competition, and has been hailed by The Strad as a “large-scaled player with a warm, pleasing sound.”

Liang Chai, whose father is a composer of Chinese music and whose mother is a singer, began to play on the piano at the age of four, and switched to the violin at nine. After only two years of violin study, he was accepted into the conservatorium of his home town, Shenyang; in 1986 he was accepted without audition into Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music. Mr. Chai came to the United States in 1991 on a full scholarship to the University of Southern California. One year later, he received a full scholarship from the Starling Foundation, enabling him to attend The Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied with the eminent violin pedagogue, Dorothy DeLay, and her associate Hyo Kang. In the spring of 1997, he received his Master’s Degree from The Juilliard School, where he subsequently filled a two-year teaching appointment as a Fellow of the DeLay-Starling Institute. 

Liang Chai has been guest soloist with London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Central Philharmonic Orchestra of China, Chinese National Radio Orchestra, Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of Neeme Jarvi, Sweden’s Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra and, with Keith Lockhart, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. In the United States, he has been heard with the Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra as well as the Butte, Pensacola and Waterbury Symphony Orchestras, Tennessee Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra and, in New York State, the Asiana Sinfonia, Cayuga Chamber Orchestra and Westchester Symphony Orchestra.

He made his New York City solo debut with the Korean Symphony Orchestra at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ Alice Tully Hall. In recital, Mr. Chai has been heard in three Lincoln Center auditoria – The Steinway Hall, Paul Recital Hall and Bruno Walter Auditorium, Washington, DC’s National Gallery of Art, Hancock Auditorium in Los Angeles, Harris Concert Hall in Aspen, Germany’s Stadtisches Konservatorium and the Auditorium de Louvre in Paris. During the summer of 1999, he made his debut at the famed Newport Music Festival, to which he returned in 2000. In December, 1999, Mr. Chai made his debut with Beijing’s National Symphony Orchestra of China, playing the great Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto.

Click here for website.

LDS Snapshots of Previous Sunday Salon w/ Violin Soloist Gao Can:

Upcoming Events at The Bookworm:

Des Bishop Heads Up The Bookworm’s monthly Comedy Club

(Photo by Liu Zhe/China Daily)

Des Bishop is kind of a big deal and it’s really no surprise that the launch performance of The Bookworm’s new comedy club sold out weeks before the event last month. Filming a documentary for Ireland’s national broadcaster, RTE, Des is here in China on a mission to learn Chinese well enough to perform a stand-up comedy show in Chinese to a Chinese audience by February 2014 (a strict one-year deadline).

But in the meantime, between living with his Chinese host family, studying intense Chinese language courses at Renmin University, he’s also making time to help Beijing kick-start a monthly stand-up comedy club (in English) to develop the local comedy scene here (which honestly was in need for someone to give them a little push in the right direction).  I think Des says it best in his own words – “We’re trying to create something a bit more like a traditional British/Irish comedy club. The hope is to have something regular and run it like a local comedy club with mostly people living in China who are performing. We just want to add to the already existing comedy scene here.”

Thanks to The Bookworm’s lovely event and marketing manager Kadi Hughes, I had the privilege to get a little face time with the very dashing, charming Des Bishop – click here for my LDS 1-on-1  with Des (which, believe it or not, was mostly done via Wechat)!

You can also read this China Daily article written about Des’ comedy show last month.

The Irish Network will also be screening his critically acclaimed international documentary film – “My Dad was Nearly James Bond” (with Chinese subtitles!) in Sanlitun’s Nearby the Tree on Tuesday, May 21st at 7PM. Price is RMB 100 to include pizza, salad + 1 drink, you can RSVP to beijingirishconnections@gmail.com to book your place early.  Click here for more event details. Bonus: Des will be there to give a talk after the screening.

Youku Clip of Des Comparing Shanghai and Beijing

Des Bishop Stand-Up Comedy Show Details:

• Date: Saturday, May 18, 2013

• Time: 8:00PM

• Location: The Bookworm

• Price: RMB 100 (Buy your tickets in advance before they’re sold out!)

String 139 presents: Duo Merindah

The Bookworm teams up with String 139 to present Beautiful Duet Duo Merindah, featuring acclaimed Australian musicians Teresa Rabe (flute) and Minh Le Hoang (guitar).

Two of the busiest and most highly regarded musicians in Canberra, Teresa has toured with the Australian Chamber Orchestra and played with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Minh has performed extensively throughout Europe as a member of Australia’s guitar quartet Guitar Trek.

The duo started playing together in 2007 and they perform at The Bookworm for a special concert on Sunday, May 19th at 7:30PM.

String 139 Event Details:

• Date: Sunday, May 19, 2013

• Time: 7:30PM

• Location: The Bookworm

• Price: RMB 100 

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