Conductor Judith Yan & Composer Julian Grant on The Diamond Lane with Bill Richardson
Last night the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra presented it's 5th concert of the season with new music with an Asian feel.
Guest conductor Judith Yan had her hands full with Michael Nyby (baritone), Xiao-Nan Wang (Chinese flute) and the varied repertoire for this exciting concert of mostly new music.
Winnipeggers first: composer Jim Hiscott penned the reflective Far Heavens with musical collaborator Xiao-Nan Wang in mind (aficionados will remember our 2009 performance of Xiao-Nan Wang’s Camel Train in the Desert, arranged then by Hiscott.
Then there was Five generations — one house, a piece which composer Julian Grant was inspired to write after receiving a gift of a butterfly harp (yangqin) while living in Beijing. The yangqin led to a guzheng, then a piano led to the strings, which is where we come in!
An operatic element was introduced when baritone Michael Nyby sang 200 Dreams from Captivity, composed by American composer Scott Wheeler. Wheeler, based in Boston, specializes in vocal and dramatic music.
Judith Yan can handle eclectic
Judith Yan is currently the Artistic Director of the Guelph Symphony Orchestra and the Music Director and Principal Conductor of Opera on the Avalon. She has been a staff conductor for the San Francisco Opera, the Canadian Opera Company and the National Ballet.
Before all the excitement of the evening, Classic 107's Bill Richardson welcomed Judith Jan and Julian Grant into The Diamond Lane studio.
Take a listen!
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