The Seattle Symphony’s Celebrate Asia performance on May 12 featured movie music by famous Japanese composers as well as a second half dedicated solely to the music of Grammy® and Academy Award® winner A.R. Rahman. The artist made a special appearance at the program. This is the ninth annual Celebrate Asia concert — which highlights […]
Celebrate Asia (Seattle Symphony)
May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra commemorates the Asian cultures with its own event, Celebrate Asia.
Differences create great harmony — Celebrate Asia concert combines music of different cultures to bridge worlds together
By Emiri Aoki Northwest Asian Weekly Often, vastly different types of things cannot unite or be in harmony when combined. Music is no exception. However, when it works, the effect can be awe-inspiring. I got to see some cool combinations of different sounds across the world coming together during Celebrate Asia, an annual Asian concert […]
Seattle Symphony celebrates Asia
By Andrew Hamlin Northwest Asian Weekly The Seattle Symphony’s “Celebrate Asia” Concert, upcoming Sunday, March 1, features guest conductor Carolyn Kuan. Amongst other pieces, the symphony will be performing the U.S. premiere of “Revive,” a concerto for koto and shakuhachi written by Japanese composer Yugo Kanno. Another prominent piece, “Xizi,” from Chinese composer Ye Yanchen, […]
BLOG: The good and unexpected of Celebrate Asia
By Assunta Ng Celebrate Asia, which was designed to highlight the merits of Asian cultures as part of the Seattle Symphony program, got mixed reviews last Friday. Even with much effort and investment in its sixth year at Benaroya Hall, the audience gave a thumbs-down to the first part of the program — especially “Nam […]
Renowned pianist Zhang makes his Seattle debut
By Alia Marsha Northwest Asian Weekly Pianist Haochen Zhang was first introduced to classical music when he was still in the womb. His mother, who was learning English at the time, came across an article in Reader’s Digest about the effects of classical music — specifically the piano, which is polyphonic — on the development […]
Blind Japanese Pianist Nobuyuki Tsujii to perform in Seattle
By M. L. Liu Northwest Asian Weekly The 13th Van Cliburn International Piano Competition held in 2009 ended with a common scene, the winner cradling his trophy while simultaneously crying and laughing. However, the winner, then 20-year-old Nobuyuki Tsujii, is unlike any of the other competitors — he is completely blind.
Celebrate Asia! in pictures
On Friday, Feb. 24, Seattle’s Asian community and Classical music fans came together for the annual Celebrate Asia! concert. Conducting the Seattle Symphony was Mei-Ann Chen. Master of Ceremonies was Mimi Gan. The event featured famed violinist Hahn-Bin, pipa player Jia Ma, and jazz group The Cuong Vu Group. An original composition by Kay He, […]
BLOG: Celebrate Asia!’s success formula
I was completely lost during the first half of Celebrate Asia! at Benaroya Hall last Friday. I was the problem. Pipa, a traditional Chinese instrument similar to a guitar (except it’s played vertically), is too profound for me.
Celebrate Asia! to feature prodigy violinist Hahn-Bin and pipa player Jie Ma
By Vivian Miezianko Northwest Asian Weekly Now that the Lunar New Year festivities are over, where can one find a jubilant event that the entire family can participate in? Where can one relish Western classical music performed alongside contemporary Asian compositions by world-class musicians, book-ended by an exhilarating showcase of traditional dance, drumming, and music?