BC Chinese Music Ensemble (Vancouver)

Sunday May 11, 2014 – 8:40-10:00pm, Performance Centre, Roundhouse

This collaboration is the continuation of “Intercultural Innovations”, the BC Chinese Music Ensemble’s (BCCME) production with the Nu:BC Collective in 2010-2011.  As part of the Vancouver Olympic celebrations, the two ensembles joined forces to commission and premiere six new works from Chinese and Canadian composers for a large chamber ensemble of Chinese and western instruments. At Sound of Dragon, they will come together again to perform a program of new works and selections from this repertoire:

Four Gardens – Dorothy Chang

Slender Gold – Owen Underhill

TBC – Zhi Min Yu  *world premiere (concerto for suona and “Silk and Bamboo ensemble”)

TBC – Rui-shi Zhuo

Dragon Boat – Arr. Mark Armanini  (pipa concerto featuring Giu Lian Liu)

Formed in 2002, the BCCME performs contemporary compositions on various Chinese instruments. Its musicians are experienced soloists and graduates from renowned music academies in China and North America.  Led by Maestro Rui-Shi Zhuo, former resident conductor of the Shanghai National Orchestra; concertmaster Mei Han, internationally known virtuoso zheng performer and scholar; and Gui-Lian Liu, pipa master and former associate professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the BCCME has premiered many new works by Canadian and Chinese composers: Mark Armanini, John Oliver, Jin Zhang, Owen Underhill, Dorothy Chang, Rui-Shi Zhuo, Zhi-Min Yu, Ning Wang, Jian-Ping Tang and Chen-Long Zhou.

In 2011 the BCCMA published YueQi: Chinese Musical Instruments in Performance by Dr. Alan Thrasher and Dr. Gloria Wong, featuring musicians from the BCCME. The BCCME has just released its 10th Anniversary CD Bamboo Shoots in Spring.

Described in the Vancouver Sun as “a dream gift… One of the best additions to local new music circles”, The Nu:BC Collective brings together some of the best chamber performers in the city. From its inception, the Nu:BC has striven to bring new music to audiences with an emphasis on collaboration and innovative approaches to concert programming. Known for its intense and virtuosic performances, the collective has been broadcast several times on CBC radio’s “The Signal” and earned its place on the cutting edge of Canada’s new music scene.