Venue: Concert Hall
Dates: December 16, 2018
Programme
Mikhail Glinka
Overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila
Tchaikovsky
Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33
Shostakovich
Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47
Conductor
ZHANG Xian
ZHANG Xian’s contract as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has been extended until the 2023/24 season, to include the orchestra’s 100th anniversary in 2022. Of her final concerts in 2017/18, conducting Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, NJ.com wrote, “From the opening bars, ZHANG imbued the work with majesty, creating the alpine atmospherics that the score calls for. The off-stage horns sounded perfect and the deep pull of Mahler's music was in full effect. ZHANG made the swooping waltzes of the second movement come to life and gave the bluesy, jazzy third movement an elegant light touch. The final movement was big and bold; the horns stood up in the grand finale and made beautiful, clarion sounds. The brass section of the NJSO has never sounded better. The NJPAC audience was on its feet at the end. This is now ZHANG's orchestra – how far can she take it between now and 2024?"
In September 2016, ZHANG assumed the position of Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC National Orchestra & Chorus of Wales, becoming the first female conductor to hold a titled role with a BBC orchestra. Her 2018/19 BBC NOW season includes her first international tour with the orchestra to China. The visit is supported by British Council China and forms part of their “Inspiring Women In The Arts” campaign.
She also holds the post of Conductor Emeritus of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, following completion of her tenure as Music Director from 2009–2016.
Last season included return visits to the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Orchestre National de Belgique, Orquesta Nacional de España, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, San Francisco Symphony and NAC Orchestra, Ottawa. 2018/19 sees her debuts with Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, Philharmonia Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, and the orchestra of Royal Stockholm Opera. Xian Zhang is invited regularly to the London Symphony and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras; recent highlights include her debut with The Cleveland Orchestra and a gala concert with Renée Fleming and the China NCPA Orchestra.
Equally in demand on the opera podium, she conducted a successful production of Nabucco with Welsh National Opera in June 2014 which subsequently transferred to Savonlinna, to where she returned in 2016 for Otello. Other notable opera engagements include Den Norske Opera in January 2016 conducting La Traviata, and English National Opera in October 2015 (La bohème).
She will make her debut for Santa Fe Opera in 2020.
ZHANG Xian is a regular conductor in her native China where, amongst others, she works with China NCPA Orchestra, China Philharmonic and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestras. A champion of Chinese composers, she has conducted CHEN Yi’s Ge Xu (Antiphony) with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, CHEN Qigang’s Er Huang (China NCPA Orchestra, June 2017) and Iris Dévoilée (BBC National Orchestra of Wales, BBC Proms, and China NCPA Orchestra – both in 2015). She also conducted the world premiere of CHEN Qigang’s Luan Tan with the Hong Kong Philharmonic in 2015.
Working with young musicians plays a major part in ZHANG’s life. She held the position of Artistic Director of the NJSO, Dutch Orchestra and Ensemble Academy from 2010 to 2015, and in summer 2015 she made her hugely successful debut with the European Union Youth Orchestra, conducting them in Grafenegg, Amsterdam, Berlin, Rheingau and Bolzano. In August 2017 she conducted the Italian Youth Orchestra in a programme of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov and returned to Aspen Music Festival in August 2018.
Born in Dandong, China, ZHANG Xian made her professional debut conducting Le nozze di Figaro at the Central Opera House in Beijing at the age of 20. She trained at Beijing’s Central Conservatory, earning both her Bachelor and Master of Music degrees, and served one year on its conducting faculty before moving to the United States in 1998. She was appointed as the New York Philharmonic’s Assistant Conductor in 2002, subsequently becoming their Associate Conductor and the first holder of the Arturo Toscanini Chair.
Artist
NIE Jiapeng Cellist
Cellist NIE Jiapeng was born in 1989 and brought up in a musical family in Shenzhen, China.
In 2005, NIE was enrolled in the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music of the National University of Singapore, and due to his exceptional achievements, was accepted by the distinguished cello professor Li-wei Qin. While in Singapore, he received high praise, including reviews from the Straits Times: “Young cellist NIE Jiapeng was the star in the concert. Jiapeng’s excellent interplay with the orchestra made for a perfect performance.” In 2010, NIE was accepted by the Hochschule für Music and Theater Hamburg to pursue a Master’s Degree and the Konzertexamen Degree, where he studied with Professor Arto Noras. In 2013, NIE completed his Master’s Degree, and completed his Konzertexamen Degree in 2016.
As a cellist, NIE Jiapeng have been invited as a soloist from many Orchestras and Music festivals in the world, including Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, ZheJiang Symphony Ochestra, Kunming Nie’er Symphony Orchestra, Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra, Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra, Evergreen Symphony Orchestra in China. Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, Nürnberg Symphony Orchestra, Slovenian Philharmonic, Ljubjana Music Festival, Carniarmonie Festival, Emilia Romagna Festival, Ravello Festival, Erfestival in Europe.
Presenter
BBC National Orchestra of Wales
For 90 years, BBC National Orchestra of Wales has been at the heart of the cultural landscape of Wales, and occupying a distinctive role as both broadcast and national symphony orchestra. It performs a busy schedule of concerts throughout Wales and the rest of the UK, led by its artistic team of Principal Guest Conductor ZHANG, Conductor Laureate Tadaaki Otaka and Composer- in-Association Huw Watkins. Part of BBC Wales and supported by the Arts Council of Wales, the Orchestra is an ambassador for Welsh music, championing contemporary composers and musicians. The Orchestra also works closely with BBC National Chorus of Wales, one of the leading large mixed choruses in the UK.
The Orchestra’s performances can be heard regularly across the BBC, on Radio 3, Radio Wales and Radio Cymru. BBC NOW performs biennially at BBC Cardiff Singer of the World and annually at the BBC Proms, where last year’s performances included Shostakovich’s first Violin Concerto with Nicola Benedetti, the European premiere of James MacMillan’s A European Requiem and the world premiere of Brian Elias’ Cello Concerto performed by Leonard Elschenbroich. Building on its
ground-breaking work with special educational needs schools and Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing adults and children, BBC NOW performed the first ever Relaxed Prom in 2017, which won the 2018 Fantastic for Families Award for Best Family Event.
Highlights of the 2018/19 season will see the orchestra perform alongside the BBC National Chorus of Wales for the first complete performance of Stanford’s Mass Via Victrix (1914-1918), Britten’s War Requiem with Mark Wigglesworth and Berlioz’s L’enfance du Christ with Sir Andrew Davis, plus premieres by Paul Mealor and Jonathon Dove. Summer 2018 sees performances at festivals in Aldeburgh, Lichfield and St Davids, a three-concert residency at Cheltenham Music Festival, and their first concerts specifically aimed at younger children, ‘Cyw a'r Gerddorfa’ (Cyw and the Orchestra) for S4C as part of the National Eisteddfod in Cardiff.
In December 2018, BBC NOW will tour to four cities in China with Principal Guest Conductor ZHANG Xian, working with the British Council in China as part of their “Inspiring Women in the Arts” campaign. As part of its extensive tour to South America in 2015, the Orchestra visited the Welsh colony in Patagonia where musicians worked in schools and with the community as part of the Patagonia 150 celebrations.
The Orchestra’s home is BBC Hoddinott Hall in Cardiff Bay, where BBC NOW continues its work as one of the UK’s foremost soundtrack orchestras recording music for Doctor Who, War and Peace, Hollow Crown and David Attenborough’s Life Story. Recent television performances include the BBC Four series, Tunes for Tyrants presented by Suzy Klein and Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience: Classical Musician. Other recent collaborations have seen the Orchestra work with Gruff Rhys (Super Furry Animals) on his new album Babelsburg, with a performance at Festival of Voice in Wales Millennium Centre, as well as Richard James (Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci) and Cian Ciarán (Super Furry Animals).