World-renowned Chinese Pipa master Gao Hong will perform new works along with the acclaimed Artaria String Quartet on Friday, April 7 at 8 p.m. in the Carleton College Concert Hall. Gao Hong will premiere new compositions, accompanied by violin (Ray Shows, Nancy Oliveros), viola (Annalee Wolf), and cello (Rebecca Merblum). This performance is free and open to the public.
Gao Hong, a renowned Chinese Pipa player and composer, graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing where she studied with Pipa master Lin Shicheng. She has received numerous awards and honors at home and abroad. In 2005, Gao Hong became the first traditional musician to be awarded the prestigious Bush Artist Fellowship, and in 2012 she became the only musician in any genre to win four McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians. She has received numerous commissions and has performed countless U.S. and world premieres of Pipa concerti with organizations such as the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Heidelberg Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, and many others. She is also Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Gao Hong recently premiered her new composition “Chinglish” to much acclaim at the O’Shaughnessy Auditorium in Saint Paul. More at www.chinesepipa.com.
Joining Gao Hong will be the acclaimed Artaria String Quartet (ASQ), described by Rob Hubbard of the St. Paul Pioneer Press as an “exceptional ensemble with impressive confidence in its interpretations” and “Minnesota's foremost teaching and performing string quartet.” Winners of the 2004 McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians, and named 2013-14 Minnesota Public Radio Artists-in-Residence, Artaria has also been featured on Twin Cities Public Television’s "MN Original" series.
Artaria's refined and thoughtful playing has brought them to major venues throughout the United States and Europe, on national television and public radio stations, and at top summer festivals including the Banff Centre in Canada, Festival de L’Epau in France, and the Tanglewood Music Center in Lenox, MA. Artaria has earned numerous awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Chamber Music America, and the Minnesota State Arts Board for excellence in performance and educational outreach. More at www.artariaquartet.com.
This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of Music. For more information, including disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4475. The Concert Hall is located on First Street, between Winona and Nevada Streets, in Northfield.
