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Acclaimed composer and conductor Tan Dun makes APO debut
18 January 2017
Acclaimed Chinese composer and conductor Tan Dun makes APO debut
Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) and Templar Family Office are pleased to welcome Grammy and Academy award-winning composer and conductor Tan Dun to Auckland for his APO debut on 31 January.
Best-known for his stirring score to the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tan Dun will be conducting the APO in the New Zealand premieres of two of his recent works, Farewell my Concubine: Concerto for Piano, Peking Opera Soprano and Orchestra and Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds. The concert programme also includes performances of de Falla’s El amor brujo: Ritual Fire Dance and Stravinsky’sThe Firebird Suite (1919). This special concert at the Aotea Centre also marks the fourth day of Chinese New Year, and is an opportunity for all Aucklanders to experience a cross-cultural celebration of symphonic tradition.
The concert celebrates Tan Dun’s reputation for innovation and ability to traverse both Eastern and Western art forms. Farewell My Concubine, which paints a tragic love story between warrior Xiang Yu and consort Yu, highlights the mystique and beauty of the Peking Opera tradition, and features Peking Opera Soprano Xiao Di, and Dutch pianist Ralph van Raat.
Symphonic poem Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds draws on forms and traditions from both East and West, ancient and modern instruments, and incorporates recordings of bird songs on Chinese traditional instruments played back on the smartphones of the musicians and audience members.
In addition to his award-winning film scores, multimedia extravaganzas, operas and orchestral compositions, Tan Dun’s career has seen him lead the the world’s best-known orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the London Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the Berlin Philharmonic. The revered Chinese composer also has a connection with New Zealand which goes back several decades; In 1988 Tan Dun was the first recipient of a new composing fellowship at Victoria University in Wellington, at just 30 years of age.
Tickets for the Tan Dun concert are available from the Ticketmaster website ticketmaster.co.nz or 0800 111 999.
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