Ancient Tang Poems

From iSING! Suzhou to the World

 

iSING! Festival celebrated on November 24, 2020 a history-making concert at the Suzhou Grand Theatre.

 

Accompanied by the Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Maestro Lin Daye, 11 iSINGERs from seven countries, awed the audience as they performed, in Mandarin, immortal Tang poems  -- creating a new chapter in contemporary Chinese music creation.

 

With incredible support from partners, colleagues, friends, and sponsors both in China and the United States, this historic concert premiered the winners of the inaugural iSING! 2020 Composition Competition. After a seven-month process, 14 composers were selected as grand-prize and honorable mention winners from 101 entries from 18 countries.

 

The staged performance included a correlating narrative that connected the poetry and underscores iSING!'s founding mission of promoting Mandarin as a lyric language and presenting Chinese culture through the power of song.

 

Adding to this spectacular one-of-a-kind music event were the musicians and chorus of the Central China Traditional Orchestra, dancers from the China Song and Dance Troupe and the New Era Children Chorus. 

 

The concert is recorded live and will be broadcast on February 26, 2021, "The Lantern Festival," as part of the closing ceremony of the 2021 Lunar New Year celebrations.

 

"Ancient Tang Poems from iSING! to the World" is co-sponsored by China Arts and Entertainment Group, New Era Group of Suzhou, Asian Performing Arts Council, and the Suzhou Industrial Park as a featured project of the 2020 iSING! Suzhou International Young Artists Festival.

Letter from iSING! General Director

Dr. Martha Liao

 

Dear friends and colleagues,

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At this time of lockdowns and travel bans, it is short of a miracle to see us here in China with 11 iSINGERS from seven countries who recently performed our historic concert - Ancient Tang Poems, from iSING! Suzhou to the World!

 

On November 24, in front of an awed audience at the Suzhou Grand Theatre, we celebrated thousand-year old Tang poetry, set to music written and sung by our youth of the 21st century. 



Music is powerful and our unique iSING! team certainly walked  the extra mile to bring back the joy of singing to the people!

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We set about this mission against all odds. We brainstormed, solicited, received, vetted, and selected for the past ten months - all virtually! 

 

With the help of many, we managed to overcome many unprecedented complications -- from the Covid-19 virus to funds, visas and airplane tickets.

 

We are thrilled now to have brought our 11 talented young singers, in our beloved city of Suzhou, for several weeks to practice and prepare for the November concert. 

 

This year we held our inaugural iSING! 2020 Composition Competition and the singers  performed the winning original compositions set to Tang poetry. The 23 winning works were selected among 101 applicants from all over the world. 

 

We are grateful to our panel of prestigious judges who spent many hours reviewing the works and selecting the winning compositions. 



It has been a monumental collaborative effort, one that has resulted in this exciting concert: 

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Ancient Tang Poems -

From iSING! Suzhou to the World

 

On November 24, at the Suzhou Grand Theatre, the audience witnessed Tang poetry's timeless beauty and the refreshing sounds of the 21st century.

 

This combination reminds us of our glorious past and heralds a future with unlimited possibilities. 

 

The concert will be broadcast worldwide on CCTV channel 4 on February 26.  It will be part of the "The Lantern Festival" as part of the closing ceremony of the 2021 Lunar New Year celebrations. 

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We hope you will be able to tune-in!

 

We send you our best wishes and hope we will all be connected again soon.  

 

Warm regards,

Martha Liao
General Director
iSING! International Young Artists Festival