East Meets West: A Butterfly Lovers Concert March 23, 2013

East Meets West: A Butterfly Lovers Concert
《梁祝音乐会》
Elegant Chinese Music with Full Orchestra
featuring the Cleveland premiere of the "Butterfly Lovers" Violin Concerto
8 p.m., Saturday, March 23, 2013
The Hermit Club
1620 Dodge Court (behind Playhouse Square, near the corner of Chester Ave. and E. 17th St.)
Cleveland, Ohio
$35 (only 90 tickets will be sold so reserve your tickets early via website or phone)

Cleveland’s prestigious Hermit Club presents a concert of stunning beauty featuring the Cleveland, Ohio premiere of the most beloved work in the Chinese classical repertoire: the famous “Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto” (LiangZhu, 小提琴协奏曲《梁山伯与祝英台》), featuring violin soloist Steven Greenman and the 40-piece Chagrin Falls Studio Orchestra led by conductor Stephen A. Eva. This work, which was composed in 1959 by the Chinese composers Chen Gang and He Zhanhao, tells the timeless story from Chinese folklore of the tragic romance between two lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, and is regarded as the Chinese equivalent of "Romeo and Juliet."

This special "East Meets West" concert will feature the music of China -- both traditional and symphonic -- played by Chinese and non-Chinese musicians from Cleveland, Ohio. Held in the elegant setting of the 109-year-old Hermit Club (the nation's oldest continuously operating private club devoted to the performing arts), the concert will showcase both serious classical music and traditional music of China, marking an important cultural and historic first for Cleveland. Other orchestral highlights--both also Cleveland premieres--will include the festive overture "The Flowers are Beautiful, the Moon is Full" (Hua Hao Yue Yuan, 花好月圆) and the tone poem "Dance of the Yao People" (Yaozu Wuqu, 瑶族舞曲).

This enchanting evening will be splendidly complemented by a selection of beautiful melodies played on traditional instruments by the 6-member Cleveland Chinese Music Ensemble (克里夫兰民族乐团), led by ethnomusicologist David Badagnani. The ensemble's instruments include dizi and xiao (bamboo flutes), sheng (mouth organ), pipa (pear-shaped lute), guzheng (zither), and percussion.

The concert will be followed by an after-concert reception.

The organizers gratefully acknowledge the support of Margaret Wong, Alex Machaskee, Anthony Yen, the Cleveland State University Confucius Institute, the Cleveland Contemporary Chinese Culture Association (CCCCA) of Solon, Ohio, and Anne Y. Pu of the "Erie Chinese Journal" for their assistance in making this concert a success.

Tickets are now on sale to the public and may be reserved via the Internet at the following website:
http://www.chagrinfallsstudioorchestra.org/
or by calling the Hermit Club at (216) 621-2325

Facebook event page:
https://www.facebook.com/events/574874305875583/

Official Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/574874305875583/