Warm Prompt:
Children under the age of six or 1.2 meters will not be admitted. Each audience should have a ticket (ID card is also needed) regardless of the age.
 

Violin: LAO Li
LAO Li is an active violin soloist. Ever since her debut with Beijing Symphony Orchestra as a soloist at the age of thirteen, playing Mendelssohn Violin Concerto in e minor, she has been a big star in her native country. Today she is recognized as one of the great violinists of the generation - a truly exciting, passionate and versatile artist. She appeared as soloist with national and international leading orchestras, including Czech National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, the New York Hudson Valley Symphony Orchestra, the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, China Union Symphony Orchestra, the Starling Artaria Ensemble, and many others. She gave concerts in many famous concert halls, such as Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Grand Hall, Headquarters of The United Nations in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing and many others.
 
LAO Li has collaborated with such famous conductors as Zubin Mehta, Benjamin Zander, Hugh Wolff, Itzhak Perlman, Jorge Ledezma Bradley, Xieyang Chen, Xiaoying Zheng, Mark Gibson and others. 
 
She was invited to perform at the royal residence in the UK, Windsor Castle. She was also invited by the former Queen of Spain, Her Majesty Sophia, to perform under Maestro Zubin Mehta's baton in Madrid. She has worked with violin maestros including Gidon Kremer, Ruggiero Ricci, Itzhak Perlman, Maxim Vengerov and Zakhar Bron. She has appeared in Chinese, American, Russian, Ukraine and British national radio programs and newspapers. 
 
In addition to her concerto performances and projects, LAO is a devoted teacher who is enthusiastic in teaching. She is currently a violin faculty member in the Central Conservatory of Music in China. She has translated Professor Zakhar Bron’s advanced violin literature “The Art of Etudes” into Chinese along with a violin study book with her detailed explanations. She constantly teaches in master classes in China, the United States, and Europe. 
 
LAO Li was born in China. At the age of ten, she attended the Central Conservatory of Music’s Primary School and became Professor Yaoji Lin’s youngest student. She was under Professor Lin’s guidance through her secondary education, and she was ranked first in the Central Conservatory of Music’s High School. After graduation, she attended Cincinnati University Musical School under Prof. Sassmannshaus with a full scholarship. In her freshmen year, she won First Place in the Concerto Competition and became Concert Master of the University of Cincinnati Orchestra. Later, she received full scholarship from the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, where she started her six year study under Professor Donald Weilerstein’s guidance. After receiving her BS and MS degrees from New England Conservatory, she received a full scholarship from Reina Sofia Conservatory in Madrid, Spain, where she studied under Professor Zakhar Bron and also became Professor Bron’s teaching assistant. 
 
Ms. LAO has won several competitions, including First Place in the Hudson Valley International String Competition in 2009, First Place in the China Central Conservatory Violin Competition, and the Special Prize for "Excellent Young Contestant" at the China (Qingdao) International Violin Competition in 2005. She also won Third Prize in China’s National Violin Art Competition.
 
She has been an active soloist on stage successfully performing violin concertos as a soloist including great composer’s composition, such as Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart, Vivaldi, Prokofiev, Dvorak, etc. and has given concerts to great acclaim all across China, the United States, and Europe. She has joined ten world renowned young violinists and successfully performed Mendelssohn e minor violin concerto at the 19^th Shanghai International Art Festival. LAO also devotes herself to promote Chinese original music. During her performance and teaching residency at Bucknell University in USA, she performed in a special concert with famous Chinese composers Huanzhi Li, Dun Tan, and Yuankai Bao’s symphonic works. Her performances included Chinese violin concerto Butterfly Lover’s Concerto, as well as part of Yuankai Bao’s Chinese Sights and Sounds 24 Pieces Violin Concerto world premier as a soloist.
 

Piano: YUAN Jie
Chinese pianist YUAN Jie is regarded as one of the most successful young pianists in China. He was awarded as “Top Ten Chinese Pianists” by China Central Television and was praised by the New York Times with the statement: "His perfect technical and musicality no doubt make him a leader in this generation of pianists”. Top prize-winners of Cliburn, Busoni, Casagrande, Bechstein, Shanghai, Hamamatsu, Crescendo, Seattle and Hong Kong international piano competitions, he has concerts in over 40 countries and regions throughout all five continents, touring nearly 600 cities. He has performed in the Carnegie Hall, the Vienna Wiener Musikverein, the Frankfurt Opera House, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in China and many others, he has also worked with New York Philharmonic, Dresden Philharmonic, China National Symphony Orchestra, and over hundred many others orchestras.
 
Jie is a recipient of the prestigious Artist Diploma from the Juilliard School and Performance Certificate from the Lake Como International Piano Academy. He is now taking up positions in two major conservatories in China: the Chair of Piano Department at Harbin Conservatory of Music, Vice President and the Chair of Piano Department at Jilin University of Arts. He is also the artistic director of four international festivals: Hangzhou Festival, Harbin Festival, Lanzhou Festival and China International Piano Festival. He has served as the jury for many international competitions, including Animato in Paris, Busoni in Bolzano, German Piano Award in Frankfurt, and Seoul, Macau, Taiwan, Portuguese, Hong Kong International Piano Competitions and many others.
 
For the 2018-2019 season, Jie has scheduled 128 concerts throughout 12 countries and over 82 cities. In addition to solo recitals and concerts in cooperation with 20 plus orchestras over the world, he was invited by the French government to participate in the 200^th anniversary national concert for the Battle of Waterloo, by the Paris UNESCO to participate in major concerts for the World Poetry Day, by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China to perform in the “China National Day” opening ceremony, by the Juilliard School of Music to record the new App series “Juilliard Open Studios” as the only Alumni musician in this series. Jie also performed in the Gala Concert by the Association of South-East Asian Nations, and the Fourth Cultural Expo Opening Ceremony. In the documentary, "Insight to China - the Key to Success," made by the CCTV English Channel, YUAN Jie, Yundi Li, and Lang Lang were featured with interviews regarding their stories to success. Jie was also featured in a TV special, “YUAN Jie – Conquering the American Audience with Piano,” by Central Television Chinese International Channel. Jie was featured in a special documentary, “The Piano Poet - YUAN Jie”, by Changchun TV. Recently, the show “Music and Life” by Central Television filmed an exclusive interview with YUAN Jie, has made him the youngest musician interviewed on the show in its history of twenty years. Very recently as the youngest jury, Jie served as chief judge and led a two months live TV show, "China Central Television Piano and Violin Competition Show”. 
 
YUAN Jie was born in Changchun, China and had his educations at Texas Christian University, The Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music and Lake Como International Piano Academy. His teachers include LI Xiao, Tamas Ungar, Yoheved Kaplinsky, Solomon Mikowsky and William Nabore.
 
Program
F. Chopin: Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante, Op.22                        
WANG Jianzhong: Silver Clouds Chasing the Moon                                          
Johann Strauss Jr.: Die Fledermaus Waltz                                                  
Sarasate: Carmen Fantasy, Op. 25                                                         
 
Intermission
 
CHEN Gang: Sunshine over Tashkurgan                                                 
Fritz Kreisler: Tambourin Chinois                                                     
Beethoven: Violin Sonata No. 9, Op. 47                                                 
 
(Please check program updates at the concert.)