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US Premiere of Xiaogang Ye's Starry Sky with the Seattle Symphony

Jan. 05, 2016

US Premiere of Xiaogang Ye's <em>Starry Sky</em> with the Seattle Symphony

Xiaogang Ye’s majestic Starry Sky receives its US premiere on January 31 in the Seattle Symphony’s Celebrate Asia concert. Conducted by Jindong Cai and featuring pianist Charlie Albright, Starry Sky was composed for the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games with soloist Lang Lang. That year, the concerto was accompanied by dance and light shows, and broadcast live to 3 billion people around the world. 

Hundreds of composers over many years submitted compositions for consideration to Zhang Yimou, director of the Opening Ceremony. Not until Ye became a member of the volunteer music group in February 2008, and was invited to write Starry Sky, did Yimou feel he had a work that matched his vision for the ceremony, something that would portray “the majesty of the starry sky and the love of life,” and simultaneously help audiences “understand modern Chinese thoughts and Chinese optimism and aspirations to the future.”

In its eighth annual year, Celebrate Asia explores the musical traditions of Asian countries alongside Western classical music, and in this way honors Seattle’s Asian American community.

Xiaogang Ye is one of China’s leading contemporary composers, and has been appointed to a number of positions in the political sphere, as well as in academic and social organizations. His work Hibiscus, for six players, will be performed for the first time in Germany in April.

For more on Xiaogang Ye, visit schott-music.com.

Details on the Celebrate Asia concert can be found on the Seattle Symphony’s website, seattlesymphony.org.

Xiaogang Ye
Starry Sky (2008)
for piano, children’s voice, women’s choir and orchestra
pic.2.2.2.2-4.3.3.1-timp.perc-hp-str
8’

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