Following a successful tour of USA, France and Spain in 2005, the Singapore Symphony Orchestra is planning a three-concert tour in China in October 2007, which will showcase the SSO at the cultural centres in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou.
SSO's tour marks the orchestra's first return to China after a highly successful tour of Beijing and Shanghai in 2001. The orchestra will be performing at the Hangzhou Grand Theatre (Oct 20), the Shanghai Oriental Art Center (Oct 21) and Beijing's Poly Theatre (Oct 23).
The concerts in Shanghai and Beijing are part of the Singapore Season in China. All the three performances in Hangzhou (Maestro Lan Shui's birthplace), Shanghai and Beijing will be conducted by Lan Shui, with internationally renowned American violinist Gil Shaham playing the starring role in the Butterfly Lovers Concerto. The programme will also include Barber's Overture to The School for Scandal and Rachmaninov's Symphony No. 2.
Says Lan Shui: "We are proud to be part of the Singapore Season in China. The SSO was very well-received during the 2001 China tour. We now have many fans in China, and we are extremely excited to return in October. In addition the Beijing Music Festival celebrates its 10th Anniversary this year, and we are very honoured to be part of the celebrations."
Lan Shui joined the SSO as Music Director in 1997. He is passionate about premiering and commissioning works by Asian and Singaporean composers, and has led the SSO on several successful tours. Lan Shui is also the Principal Guest Conductor of Denmark's Aalborg Symphony, and assumes the position of Chief Conductor of the Copenhagen Philharmonic from September 2007.
Gil Shaham is internationally recognized by audiences and critics alike as one of today's most virtuosic and engaging classical artists. Born in Illinois in 1971, he moved with his parents to Israel at the age of seven to study at the Rubin Academy of Music. In 1981 he made his debut with the Jerusalem Symphony and Israel Philharmonic. In 1982 he won first prize in Israel's Claremont Competition.
Since its inception in 1979, the SSO has toured America, China, Czech Republic, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Italy, Japan, France, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Among the SSO's recordings under BIS are a number of CDs which have earned international acclaim, including a recently released Seascapes CD, and the first-ever complete symphony cycle of Tcherepnin.
The SSO 2007 China tour is sponsored by Singapore Petroleum Company Limited, WBL Corporation Limited, Asia Pacific Breweries Foundation, and supported by the National Arts Council, Singapore, the Singapore Season – China 2007, Singapore Airlines, the SSO Ladies' League and Mr & Mrs Wong Nang Jang. -- www.sso.org.sg
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