29/11/2018
Musicians from the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in China joined the University of Nottingham’s Philharmonia and Choir for a week-long programme of events culminating in a grand gala public concert at the Albert Hall on Saturday 24th November, marking the end of their first UK tour.
The combined large-scale ensemble of choral and orchestral musicians, opened with Li Huanzhi’s Spring Festival Overture, often performed at Chinese New Year festivities; and Rachmaninov’s The Bells, a choral symphony based on a Russian poem adapted from Edgar Alan Poe’s famous poem of the same name, marking the passage of life. The concert concluded with the complete suite from Holst’s awe-inspiring, tour-de-force The Planets. Gustav Holst’s seven-orchestral movement represents all the known planets of the solar system seen from Earth at the time, and the astrological character of each planet.
Providing an additional dimension to the concert, a video show using astrological images and lighting was projected above the stage during the performance of The Planets. It was created by digital artist Barret Hodgson of Vent Media and added an ‘other worldly’ dimension to the majestic closing performance.
The Albert Hall was fully packed with an audience of over 700 people, who were clearly captivated from start to finish. The unique collaboration of musicians from China and Nottingham won rounds of applauses after each performance. “It was amazing!”, “Absolutely out of this world!” were just some of the comments we received at the end of the concert.
In addition to the concert at the Albert Hall, ZCM’s week-long UK tour saw the 21 talented young musicians deliver a concert at the University of Sheffield; an evening performance at the University of Nottingham’s Knowledge Exchange Awards; a civic performance at Nottingham’s City Hall, led by UoN Vice Chancellor and President Professor Shearer West and representatives from Midlands Engine to mark the beginning of a trade mission to Zhejiang; a lunchtime concert in the University’s Recital Hall for the public and Confucius Institute schools; a rehearsal with the BBC Symphony Orchestra featuring cellist and Young Musician of the Year (2016) Sheku Kanneh-Mason at Nottingham’s Royal Concert Hall; and a concert at the University of Southampton.
The Zhejiang Conservatory UK Tour was jointly organised by Nottingham Confucius Institute, Lakeside Arts and the University’s Asia Business Centre in partnership with the University of Sheffield, the University of Southampton and their Confucius Institutes, with the aim to further enhance cultural exchange between the UK and China.
“NCI has clear objectives to engage with schools locally and share the wonder of contemporary Chinese culture – not just during the New Year festival. I believe the objectives were met (and the feedback from schools has been excellent) but the ZCM UK Tour project went way beyond that with the concert on Saturday being a great event!” commented Jason Feehily, NCI UK Director.
~ENDS~
Posted on Thursday 29th November 2018