John Chen (piano)
The T’ang Quartet
Schnittke Piano Quintet
Gao Ping Mei, Lan, Zhu, Ju
Dvorˇák Piano Quintet

This concert celebrates the ever-increasing contribution of modern China to the global arts scene with a specially-commissioned Piano Quintet by the Chinese New Zealand composer Gao Ping. The work sits alongside Quintets by Dvorˇák and Schnittke, each work a masterpiece in their composer’s outputs and each written during periods of prolific artistic zeniths in their homelands.

The artists assembled for this concert are amongst the most acclaimed of the new generation of Chinese-born classical musicians. John Chen rocketed onto the international piano scene when he became the youngest-ever winner of the Sydney International Piano Competition. He is currently based in Los Angeles where he studies at the Colburn School of Performing Arts.

Trained individually in London and Moscow, the T’ang Quartet was awarded a fellowship in 1997 to work in the USA with celebrated artists Paul and Martha Katz of the Cleveland Quartet, and Norman Fischer, Kenneth Goldsmith and Sergui Luca at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University, Houston. They are now Quartet-in-residence at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music at the National University of Singapore. Their hip and upbeat stage personality, as well as collaborations with celebrated artists such as pianists Horia Mihail, Noriko Ogawa and Marian Hanh, cellists Carter Enyeart and Paul Katz, and ensembles such as the Australian String Quartet, have captivated audiences in the USA, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, China and Southeast Asia.

Pre-show talk with composer Gao Ping:

Monday 3 August, 6.30pm, Victoria Bar, Christchurch Town Hall