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Chinese composers to present joint concert
April 20, 2007
The music department is hosting a composers exchange concert with China’s Sichuan Conservatory of Music on Thursday, April 26 at 8 p.m. in Lagerquist Concert Hall.
The concert showcases the increasingly strong ties between PLU and the Sichuan Conservatory by bringing music faculty from the conservatory to PLU to present their original compositions, said Greg Youtz, music professor and site director of the China study away program.
The Chinese composers featured in Thursday’s concert include Ao Changqun, Song Mingzhu, Yang Xinmin and Guo Long, as well as PLU music faculty members Youtz, Dave Robbins, Clement Reid and Greg Bowers.
Last month, the four PLU composers traveled to the conservatory located in Chengdu, China, to perform the same concert that will be presented at PLU this week, which is why the concert is referred to as an “exchange,” Youtz explained. Youtz has lectured at the conservatory and PLU students have studied Chinese instruments and singing there, but this concert marks the first faculty exchange between the two institutions.
“When we were in China in March, it was the first time I was there as a musician,” Youtz said. “I loved it.”
The conservatory is located in China’s Sichuan Province, where PLU has been sending students and faculty to study Chinese language and culture for nearly 25 years. The exchange concert is the first of its kind, and it was made possible through a grant PLU’s Chinese Studies program received in 2001 from the Freeman Foundation. Youtz is responsible for directing the grant funding.
“Being a musician, I always wanted to build more relationships with the music conservatory,” Youtz said. “(The concert) brings together for me both my last six years of busy activity running the Freeman grant for Chinese Studies and developing the site in Chengdu together with my musical side.”
Chinese musicians are unique because of their “bi-musicality,” or their ability to compose in Western and Chinese classical music styles, Youtz said. The two styles are vastly different and use different kinds of instruments.
Chinese composers are trained in both musical styles because Western classical music is popular in China and has been for the past 100 years, Youtz said. Composing students wanted to learn both, so the conservatories responded by teaching both.
Thursday’s concert features Western classical music played on Western instruments. Youtz hopes future exchange concerts between the music schools will showcase Chinese classical music and Chinese instruments.
“They decided to play our game this time,” Youtz said. “They’ve chosen primarily the Western style, and it’s neat to see the similarities.”
The Chinese composers are on campus all this week and will be speaking in two music classes. All are welcome to attend, Youtz said.
The composers will be speaking about their music in Monday’s “20th Century Music” at 11:15 a.m. in MBR 306. They will also speak about Chinese music and the impact on composing in “Music and Culture” at 11:50 a.m. on Thursday in MBR 322.
PLU has had a Chinese Studies program since 1993, and the university has sent over 200 students and 25 faculty members to two study away sites in China since 1983. In return, about 40 Chinese faculty scholars have spent a year at least a year teaching at PLU.
The Freeman Foundation grant has funded a number of projects, including taking 42 local school teachers to China to promote the study of China in K-12 curriculum, helping develop Chinese language programs and begin relationships between the schools, and developing a network of current and future Chinese language teachers.
The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the music department at ext. 7602.
The Chinese composers featured in Thursday’s concert include Ao Changqun, Song Mingzhu, Yang Xinmin and Guo Long, as well as PLU music faculty members Youtz, Dave Robbins, Clement Reid and Greg Bowers.
Last month, the four PLU composers traveled to the conservatory located in Chengdu, China, to perform the same concert that will be presented at PLU this week, which is why the concert is referred to as an “exchange,” Youtz explained. Youtz has lectured at the conservatory and PLU students have studied Chinese instruments and singing there, but this concert marks the first faculty exchange between the two institutions.
“When we were in China in March, it was the first time I was there as a musician,” Youtz said. “I loved it.”
The conservatory is located in China’s Sichuan Province, where PLU has been sending students and faculty to study Chinese language and culture for nearly 25 years. The exchange concert is the first of its kind, and it was made possible through a grant PLU’s Chinese Studies program received in 2001 from the Freeman Foundation. Youtz is responsible for directing the grant funding.
“Being a musician, I always wanted to build more relationships with the music conservatory,” Youtz said. “(The concert) brings together for me both my last six years of busy activity running the Freeman grant for Chinese Studies and developing the site in Chengdu together with my musical side.”
Chinese musicians are unique because of their “bi-musicality,” or their ability to compose in Western and Chinese classical music styles, Youtz said. The two styles are vastly different and use different kinds of instruments.
Chinese composers are trained in both musical styles because Western classical music is popular in China and has been for the past 100 years, Youtz said. Composing students wanted to learn both, so the conservatories responded by teaching both.
Thursday’s concert features Western classical music played on Western instruments. Youtz hopes future exchange concerts between the music schools will showcase Chinese classical music and Chinese instruments.
“They decided to play our game this time,” Youtz said. “They’ve chosen primarily the Western style, and it’s neat to see the similarities.”
The Chinese composers are on campus all this week and will be speaking in two music classes. All are welcome to attend, Youtz said.
The composers will be speaking about their music in Monday’s “20th Century Music” at 11:15 a.m. in MBR 306. They will also speak about Chinese music and the impact on composing in “Music and Culture” at 11:50 a.m. on Thursday in MBR 322.
PLU has had a Chinese Studies program since 1993, and the university has sent over 200 students and 25 faculty members to two study away sites in China since 1983. In return, about 40 Chinese faculty scholars have spent a year at least a year teaching at PLU.
The Freeman Foundation grant has funded a number of projects, including taking 42 local school teachers to China to promote the study of China in K-12 curriculum, helping develop Chinese language programs and begin relationships between the schools, and developing a network of current and future Chinese language teachers.
The concert is free and open to the public. For more information, contact the music department at ext. 7602.