It was an exciting occasion – the world premier of the first two movements of my concerto “China Sings” – Kuang Junhong played with great delicacy and fiery virtuosity, and the orchestra was superb. Watch this space for all three movements with symphony orchestra.
Many thanks to Stephan Hesse, who worked overtime to record, produce and edit this video.
The second part of the piece is based on my study for double string trills, “Dragons Dancing“.
Below is a transcript of my customary speech, which had comedic German and Chinese translations thanks to Frank Gerstmeier and Xu Bao!
“I was very lucky to meet Professor Xu Bao again earlier this year in Chengdu.
We first met in Shanghai in 1996 when he was a master class student of John Williams and me.
Last year we met again in Iserlohn and I had the pleasure of hearing his talented young student, Kuang Junhong perform.
I had a wonderful time in Chengdu. We ate large amounts of spicy food and saw pandas. I also taught Kuang Junhong every day, which gave me the idea of writing a concerto for him.
This is the next piece, a concerto dedicated to professor Xu, Kuang Junhong and his students in Chengdu, and also to the participants in the Iserlohn Festival.
The concerto is called “China Sings” and these are the first two movements based on two famous Chinese songs -“Dark Sky” and “Silver Clouds across the Moon”.
Many thanks to all those who worked hard behind the scenes, especially Thomas and Dale.
I would also like to add my thanks to all the performers here tonight and Kuang Junhong who have worked so hard to bring this first performance to you.”
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Hi Gerald !
what a beautiful piece of music! All of you did a great job!
lots of greetings from Shanghai! Julia
Dear Gerald:
You are a master composer and conductor.
Thanks for creating such beautiful music.
Really enjoyed being in the orchestra – so much fun.
Karen
Dear Karen
It is always a pleasure having you in the ensemble. Thanks for your help and inspiration.
Wonderful piece beautifully performed . a great pleasure to hear and see the work .
Thanks for listening! Hope to see you soon…
Dear Gerald,
I loved this performance and your piece.
It was really joyful experience for me.
Congratulations to you all!
See you in September .
David
Hi David!Thanks for your nice comment – it was your tremolo playing which partly inspired this piece.
See you soon
great to hear it know from ” the other side”. I loved being in the orchestra . Thanks Gerald
Thanks for playing in the ensemble again!
See you next time