National Chinese Orchestra takesa literary look at classical music

Poetic Impression of Music (詩樂印象) is the third installment and the climax of the National Chinese Orchestra's 20th anniversary celebration concert series. It's an evening featuring the "All Stars" of Chinese as well as classic music. Tomorrow at the National Concert Hall, the audience can expect to enjoy a repertoire with some vivid ethnic impressions.

The star soloists taking the stage include Guzheng virtuoso Hsiang Si-hua (項斯華), pipa performer Yang Ching (楊靖), zhongruan performer Huang Wen-pei (黃溫配), and pianist Chu Ta-ming (諸大明).

For lovers of Chinese music, Hsiang Si-hua is almost a household name. Graduating from Shanghai Music Conservatory and a soloist at Beijing Opera House, Hsiang has released more than 10 solo albums in China, Japan, Hong Kong and Taiwan. At the concert, she will be the lead performer in two tender pieces: Water Flowing From the High Mountains and By Yili River songs, which aurally describe the landscapes of northwest China.

Hisang's two solo performances are followed by Caprice of Da-Bo River and then Solar Eclipse, which are the opening songs of the night with an ethnic Chinese feel. The two depict the shifting phenomena of the heavens.

Beijing-based Pipa soloist Yang Ching is known for her strength and lively performance style. She will be playing solo for Little Sisters in Grasslands, a song that illustrates the beauty of the pipa, one of the best-known Chinese music instruments, in its dramatic yet changing faces.

The voices of Taiwan will be represented by Huang Wen-pei, a Taipei-based performer of the zhongruan, another plucked-string instrument. Yunnan Memories is a song hoping to bring to life southwest China through the bright intensity of the zhongruan.

Finally, Chu Ta-ming, a talent based in China who made his name in the US will blend traditional Chinese instruments for the the alternately grand and gentle Piano Concerto of Youth.

The concert is conducted by Qu Chunquan (瞿春泉), composer and musical director of the National Chinese Orchestra. The orchestra, now comprises more than 60 musicians and is one of the leading Chinese orchestras in Taipei.