The University at
Albany Performing Arts Center (PAC), operating under the auspices of the College of Arts and Sciences, 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).
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.
PAC
HOME
