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Concert featuring two world-class chamber ensembles from Vancouver and Singapore planned for May 26 at The Annex
Vancouver’s Sound of Dragon Ensemble presents a concert on May 26 at The Annex with special guests from Singapore, the Ding Yi Music Company. They are performing a program of music written for the combination of Chinese and Western instruments by Canadian, Singaporean, and Chinese composers. This concert is Singapore’s prestigious Chinese chamber ensemble Ding Yi Music Company’s Canadian debut. Taiwan’s internationally acclaimed conductor Chih Sheng Chen and Ding Yi’s conductor Dedric De Li Wong will share the podium to lead the ensembles.
While the dragon represents Asian heritage, the merlion, a mythical creature with a lion head and fish body, is a symbol for Singapore, referring to the city’s origin as a fishing village and its original name — Singapura, meaning lion city. “Rising Dragon, Soaring Merlion” is the meeting of two world-class chamber ensembles of Chinese roots from Vancouver and Singapore!
The concert will present an exciting program performed by the joined force of the two ensembles. Alice Ping Yee Ho‘s dramatic “Four Dragons” draws on an ancient tale deeply rooted in Chinese mythology, folklore, and culture. The four dragons in the Eastern Sea scooped up sea water and sprayed rain from heaven to save people from a drought. Then they turned themselves into four rivers – Black Dragon River, Yellow River, Yantze River, and Pearl River, to nurture the people on this land. Farshid Samandari‘s “sine verbis” symbolizes the effort to communicate against various types of censorship. Moshe Denburg‘s “Ocean of Tears” is a sonic picture of sadness and reflection written during the pandemic. Jordan Nobles‘ “Foreign Oceans” depicts an imagined underwater world. Jian Min Wang‘s Dream of Angels is a quintet of Chinese instruments. The thought-provoking melody depicts the graceful movements of a female dancer. Nixia Li’s The Seven Sages refers to China’s seven scholars from 200 A.D. They were known to gather in the bamboo forest to sing, play musical instruments, and recite poetry that criticized the government. Chenwei Wang‘s “Winds of Affinity” is a double concerto featuring Ding Yi dizi soloist Ng Hsien Han and Sound of Dragon flutist Paolo Bortolussi. The piece depicts an encounter between two musicians whose friendship gradually blossoms. Chenyao Li’s The Allegory speaks of the passing of time, history, and personal stories.
Sound of Dragon Concert Event Details:
Date: Friday, May 26, 2023
Times: 7:00 pm pre-concert talk with Dedric De Li Wong (Ding Yi conductor) and Alice Ping Yee Ho (composer)
8:00 pm concert
Venue: The Annex, 823 Seymour Street, Vancouver, BC
Tickets: $19.99 regular (early bird $15 by May 15, 2023), $15 students/seniors/children, free for children under 12
Tickets: SoundofDragon.com and at the door
About Ding Yi Music Company:
Established in 2007, Ding Yi Music Company is Singapore’s most prestigious Chinese chamber ensemble and the creator of two major Chinese music events: the Ding Yi Chinese Chamber Music Festival and the Composium, an international composition competition and symposium. The ensemble is made up of a group of accomplished Chinese instrumentalists who have trademarked Singapore Chinese chamber music with their distinctive approach to music-making and dedication to showcasing a vast repertoire that ranges from traditional Chinese music to contemporary interpretations and cross-genre works.
About Sound of Dragon Ensemble:
The Sound of Dragon Ensemble is dedicated to creating/presenting new works for the combination of Chinese and Western instruments and presenting contemporary music of Chinese roots/influences to the world stage. Established in 2015, the Sound of Dragon Ensemble’s instrumentation has been carefully selected by pairing Chinese and Western instruments in the families of bowed strings, plucked strings, and winds, completed by a collection of percussion instruments from both the east and the west. The ensemble’s repertoire represents original Canadian intercultural art music and breaks down genre boundaries, crossing over Chinese traditions, contemporary music, world fusion, and improvisation.
The Sound of Dragon Ensemble’s 2023 lineup includes Charlie Lui on dizi/Chinese flutes, Paolo Bortolussi on flutes, Lan Tung on erhu/Chinese violin and voice, Zhimin Yu on ruan/Chinese lute, Chris Blaber on percussion, Itamar Erez on guitar, Sungyong Lim on cello, Mark Ferris on violin, and Dailin Hsieh on zheng/Chinese zither. Taiwan’s prominent conductor Chih Sheng Chen (Little Giant Chamber Orchestra), will once again guest conduct the ensemble at this concert.
The Sound of Dragon Society operates and presents musical events on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
Social Media:
For more information on the Sound of Dragon Ensemble or the Ding Yi Music Company, please visit the following social media accounts:
Sound of Dragon Social Media: Instagram: instagram.com/soundofdragon, Facebook: facebook.com/SoundofDragon, YouTube: youtube.com/SoundofDragonSociety, Twitter: twitter.com/sound_of_dragon
Ding Yi Social Media: Instagram: instagram.com/dingyimusic/, Facebook:
