The eighth annual China Now Music Festival, Music in Motion, concludes with a dynamic performance from the Bard East/West Ensemble (BEWE), comprising of a Western string quintet, seven Chinese instruments, and two percussionists, in a 3-part program of contemporary music from China. Propulsive Chinese percussion opens the concert, followed by a new telling in chamber opera form of David Henry Huang’s poignant play M. Butterfly. The final piece, Four Seasons in Lingering Garden, receives a choreographic treatment to engage two dancers and the entire ensemble in a dramatic representation of the changing landscape in a traditional Chinese garden. 

From The Age of the Dragon double percussion concerto

1. The Sun 

4. The Earth 

       Arr. Shutong Li

       Shiqi Zhong, Chinese percussion

Intermission

M. Butterfly, a chamber opera

       Pan Geng, libretto

       Gallimard (the diplomat): Eric Carey, tenor

       Feng (Peking opera nandan): Yu Xiangwei, Peking Opera performer

       Judge: Nathaniel Sullivan, baritone

Intermission

Four Seasons in Lingering Garden symphonic poem

1. Spring Breeze Awakens the Garden

2. Dappled Green in Summer Shade

3. Fragrance of Osmanthus on the Wind

4. Watching the Snow from the Pavilion

       Arr. Shutong Li

       Dai Jian, choreographer

       Wang Kan, female dancer

       Peng Mi, male dancer

Bard East/West Ensemble
Jindong Cai, conductor

Shiqi Zhong, Chinese percussion
Yu Xiangwei, Peking opera performer
Eric Carey, tenor
Nathaniel Sullivan, baritone
Wang Kan, dancer
Peng Mi, dancer