PAC Hosts Chinese Music Ensemble

The University at Albany Performing Arts Center (PAC) is pleased to present a concert by the EastRiver Ensemble on Saturday, October 13, 2007 at 8pm in the Recital Hall of the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown campus. This event is scheduled in conjunction with the University’s themed semester focusing on China. Performers in the ensemble include Xiao Xiannian (yangqin, percussion); Cao Bao’an (erhu/2-string fiddle, sona/oboe, drum); Cao Baoquan (percussion); Guo Ruan (pipa and ruan/Chinese lutes) and Li Shisheng (huqin/ Chinese fiddles).

http://www.albany.edu/pac/special%20performances.html

A self-styled eclectic group performing Chinese music and theatre, the EastRiver Ensemble was established in 2000 in New York from an association of essentially northern musicians from the Hebei, Dongbei and Hunan regions of China. Under the auspices of Mencius Society for the Arts, EastRiver is distinguished by a gutsy approach to traditional winds, lutes and percussion of Chinese music; virtuosic experimentation on the yangqin zither; and a passion for simple folk songs and operatic fiddles (jinghu & banhu). The ensemble has performed widely, including at major concerts such as Dragon Boat Festival (NYC), Mayfair Arts Festival (Allentown, PA), the Dollywood Festival of Nations (Tennessee) and at symposiums at Wesleyan University and the University of New Hampshire.

Director Julie Tay is an educator and practical anthropologist who studied at the CUNY Graduate Center. She is devoted to hands-on ethnography and the decolonization and preservation of folk ways. Founder and director of the AiCenter for Chinese language and music studies, Tay is a major cultural organizer in Chinatown. She is Secretary and Program Director of the Mencius Society for the Arts of which the East River Ensemble is a performing entity.

Xiao Xiannian graduated from the Shenyang Music Conservatory and was a multiple nation-wide award-winner between 1981 and 1991, as well as a designated “National First-Class Performer” with the Chinese Ministry of Culture. Through the nineties, Xiao served as principal yangqin player and percussionist with the Liaoning Music and Dance Company. Since coming to the U.S., Xiao released two CDs, performed solo concerts at the Boston Conservatory and Maplewood Underground Series, and appeared at the Detroit Festival of the Arts and the Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival NYC. He toured the US in 2002 as a self-styled artist in the duo Bamboo Breeze.

Originally from Hebei Province, Cao Bao’an is the oldest son of nine siblings and received training in the tradition of “liyuan shijia” (unbroken tradition of the Pearl Garden Family) – those recognized as the true founders and bearers of jingju (Beijing opera). Cao apprenticed to his father in Chinese folk instruments from the age of six. He later received institutional training in the era of the Chinese Cultural Revolution, steeped in the classic “model” theater (yangban xi) and militant (budui) music of the period. A life-time performer in the true folk spirit, he was resident artist with the Tianjin Song and Dance Company until 1995. He moved to New York the following year and, breaking from formalities of classically trained musicians, Cao joined the MTA Music Under New York program to bring Chinese Music to the public in the subways. In 2000, he founded the CBA Culture & Arts Center in Queens.

Born of Hebei Province, Cao Baoquan is the youngest brother of Cao Bao’an and performed lead percussion with the Tianjin Song and Dance Company. He is the traditional “gulao” (drum master) of the CBA Culture & Arts Center.

Guo Ruan, a graduate of the Tianjin Conservatory, is a seasoned performer in official Chinese music orchestras as well a performer on western guitars in the Chinese club scene. Since 2000, he has been a full time eclectic player on the New York circuit.

Li Shisheng is the bearer of the Li family style with jinghu (lead Chinese fiddle for Beijing opera). He was a childhood sparring partner with Cao Baoquan and graduated from the Hebei Theatre School. A life-time folk performer, he is the resident lead performer with the CBA Culture & Arts Center.

Tickets are $12 for the general public and $8 for students and may be purchased through the Performing Arts Center Box Office. For further information, contact the Box Office at (518) 442-3997 or visit the Performing Arts Center website at www.albany.edu/pac.

Presented in association with the Department of Music
Funding support provided by University Auxiliary Services, Inc.

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