PERFORMANCE PROGRAMME

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1. Female solo: “The Doll Song” - selected from the Offenbach opera “The Tales of Hoffmann”Singer: Xu Lin / Piano: Yang Jiana

“The Doll Song” is from the three-act opera by acclaimed French composer, Jacques Offenbach. This piece, which offers generous room and potential for performance and superb vocal prowess, is one which can fully showcase the beauty of the female soprano. It is also one of the most spectacular parts of the opera, and one that requires the most difficult technique.

2. Dulcimer solo: “Xi Xun” (Good News)Dulcimer: Xing Ruifang / Piano: Yang Jiana

This is a Xinjiang-style song performed with the dulcimer, and it describes the scene when people hear good news and celebrate the news with joy and dancing. Fast-paced dancing permeates the piece, accompanied by moving vocals in the middle. It is a truly exhilarating and emotional piece.

This Xinjiang folk song is one of the popular Uighur folk songs. It fully demonstrates the style and characteristics of Xinjiang folk songs. The traditional Uighur folk songs account for a large proportion of love songs. The romance between young men and women is often expressed through the Uighur national psychological characteristics and re-gional characteristics, so it has a unique artistic charm.

3. Female solo: “Yi Bei Mei Jiu” (A Cup of Beautiful Wine) - A Xinjiang Uighur Folk Song Singer: Xu Lin / Piano: Yang Jiana

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5. Female solo: “Glitter and be Gay” – from the musical “Candide”Singer: Lin Xinmei / Piano: Yang Jiana

6. String Quarte: “Divertimento in D major, K. 136 - Mozart First violin: Bao Renjie / Second violin: Qi Junbo / Viola: Liu Anqing / Cello: Lu Qiaozhi

Mozart’s K.136 and K.137 (K6 numbered K.125a and K.125b respectively) are the most famous songs among his divertimento songs. These three songs demonstrate the composer’s inspiration and his ar-tistic value in his early age. Mozart was influenced greatly by Italian music. He created these songs in his hometown of Salzburg (That’s why these songs are sometimes called the “Salzburg Symphony”), and these songs were actually for his following performances in Italy.

“Glitter and be Gay” is a famous chapter in the opera “Candide”. This song tells the story of the pro-tagonist, Cunegonde, who was from a rich family but encountered something that completely changed her life. She had to leave home and be separated from

her lover. In order to maintain a wealthy lifestyle, Cune-gonde meets a wealthy man, but she tells herself not to indulge in material desires. The protagonist cries some-times but laughs at other times, resulting in an unbal-anced mood in the song. This song is very difficult to sing, and there is a great span in terms of pitch. It is one of the classic songs that every soprano will definitely at-tempt.

4. Double bass solo: “The Song of Grassland” - Composed by Zhang Bao Yuan Double bass: Yao Lin / Piano: Yang Jiana

“The Song of Grassland” was created by Zhang Baoyuan in 1934, and is performed with double bass.The tone is extremely deep to symbol-ise the vast grassland, and it is a delicate and moving piece. This piece also encompasses characteristics of Mongolian-style music.

8. Piano Trio: The first chapter of “Frank Martin Piano Trio”Violin: Bao Renjie / Cello: Lu Qiaozhi / Piano: Feng Huaiyu

This song, “Piano Trio”, was created by Swiss composer Frank Martin (1890-1974). Frank Martin was taught by Joseph Lauber in Geneva, and studied in Rome from 1921 to 1923. He had been a music teacher in Rome and the headmaster of the Modern Music Art School in Geneva. His work is exquisite, and aspires after the intricacies of the art.

9. Violin solo: Hungarian Dance No.17 - Johannes Brahms (adapted by Fritz Kreisler)Violin: Bao Renjie / Piano: Feng Huaiyu

“Hungarian Dance” consists of 21 “four single-hand” piano pieces. Although each melody and style of music is different, the songs are mixed with Hungarian folk music and Gypsy national music features: rhythm and freedom. The melody has much variety and the speed of change is intense, with a certain degree of improvisation. There is no fixed format for the form of songs but they are mostly in three sections.

7. Violin Duet: “Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano” - Dmitry Dmitrievitch Shostakovitch Violin: Bao Renjie Bao & Qi Junbo / Piano: Feng Huaiyu

In Shostakovitch’s “Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano”, the first song is “Overture”, which has a graceful melody. The second song is “Gavotte en Rondeau”, with its short vibrato and vocal sound, which make the piece vivid and lively. The third song is “Lament”, which reminds one of a sorrowful tune. The fourth one is “Waltz”, a fast-paced Vienna number. The tempo matches the upbeat mood of the piece, describing vividly the motion of the twirling dance. The fifth song, “Polka”, is fast and lively, like a Polka Czech Republic folk dance.

10. Cello solo: “Romance” – Liu Zhuang Cello: Lu Qiaozhi / Piano: Feng Huaiyu

“Romance” was created in the 1950s by Liu Zhuang. He used Kazakh folk songs from the Chinese Xinjiang region as the theme, and used modern composition methods for his own creation. This song showcases rich and real feelings to the audience, and it became one of the most established cello pieces in China.

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THE MUSICIANS

Bao Renjie: The chief of the Youth Chinese Philharmonic Orchestra in the China Conservatory of Music was ad-mitted to the China Conservatory of Music in 2011 with excellent scores. Professor Jinhui, a famous violinist and educator, was his professor. In 2015, Mr Bao graduated with a Master degree with hon-ours at the China Conservatory of Music. In 2012, he won the Hong Kong International String Com-petition adult group gold medal, and also won many other accolades at the Golden Bell Award, the United States International Violin Competition, and other international competitions.

Qi Junbo: Having started learning the piano since he was five years old, and the violin since he was six, Mr Qi is now a senior student at the China Conservatory of Music. As the chief of the second violin department of the China Youth Philharmonic Orchestra, he has performed in Italy with the school orchestra.

Liu Yanqing: Liu has been learning the violin since 8 years old. In 2007, Liu was admitted to the China Conservatory of Music High School, majoring in the viola, with Professor Cao Hai as her teacher. In 2013, Liu gradu-ated from the China Conservatory of Music High School and was admitted to the China Conservatory of Music with the highest score. Currently, she is the chief of the viola department of the China Youth Philharmonic Orchestra.

Yao Lin: Yao has been learning the violin since five years old, and the bass since 11 years old. In 2009, Yao was admitted to the China Conservatory of Music, and majored in orchestra. Yao is currently on the Mas-ter degree programme at the China Conservatory of Music, under the tutelage of Professor Hou Jun Xia. Yao has been invited many times to the United States, Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and other countries to participate in the bass festival, and won the Group Gold Award at the third Hong Kong International String Bass Competition, and the second prize at the fifth Beijing International Bass Piano Festival in China.

Lin Xinmei: Lin, a Coloratura soprano, was born in Malaysia. In 2008, she was admitted to the faculty of vocal music opera of the China Conservatory of Music, majoring in vocals, and was under the tutelage of teacher Ma Lei. She is currently studying for a Master degree at the faculty of vocal music at the China Conservatory of music, under Professor Song Yi, a famous baritone singer and vocal music educator. In 2015, Lin participated in the 46th Bellini International Vocal Competition (China) and won third place. She also participated in the Beijing municipal government China Cup vocal competition and won second place. Yang Jiana: Yang is a piano teacher of Jiaying Music College. She graduated from Guangzhou Xing Hai Music Con-servatory in 2005, specialising in music education, under the tutelage of associate professor Zhu Lin and German pianist Alexander. In 2009, she was awarded the Master degree of Piano Performing Arts at the Music Conservatory of Fujian University, and successfully held a solo piano concert.

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