Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Omni Video Premiere: Duo Chinoiserie

Duo Chinoiserie members Jing Xia and Bin Hu with their respective instruments (from the Duo Chinoiserie home page)

This coming Sunday the Omni Foundation for the Performing Arts will release the latest video to be added to its Omni On Location series. This video was recorded in a church in Tucson, Arizona. The performance will be by Duo Chinoiserie, which is true to its name in a rather unique way. Classical guitarist Bin Hu will be joined by Jing Xia, whose instrument is the Chinese guzheng. As can be seen from the above photograph, the guzheng differs significantly from any member of the guitar family!

The program will include a selection of Chinese classical music, “A Moonlit Night on the Spring River,” which Jing arranged for the duo. More interesting is the opening selection, “Mulan,” which Sérgio Assad composed for them. The duo has prepared their own arrangement of the “Ritual Fire Dance” movement from Manuel de Falla’s score for the one-act ballet “El amor brujo” (the sorcerer love). The other work on the program will be “La Catedral” by Agustín Barrios.

This performance will be streamed through the Omni Foundation’s YouTube channel. The premiere will be live-streamed at 10 a.m. this coming Sunday, April 23. The YouTube Web page for viewing has already been created. There is no charge for admission, which means that these performances are made possible only by the viewers’ donations. A Web page has been created for processing contributions, and any visits made prior to the streaming itself will be most welcome.

No comments: