Thursday 1 Mar 2018, 7.30pmRoyal Festival Hall, London
The Philharmonia and conductor Long Yu’s Chinese New Year Celebration concert returns to mark the Year of the Dog. This year we welcome a choir from a small village in China’s Yunnan Province to sing Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and a selection of traditional folk songs.
The Xiaoshuijing Farmers’ Choir was formed in the 1930s and the tradition of choral singing has been passed down through generations since. The choir are famous throughout China for singing both traditional Chinese folk songs and Western choral works.
13-year-old Chinese virtuoso Serena Wang is the soloist in Mendelssohn’s First Piano Concerto, and also plays in the Choral Fantasy. Li’s popular Festival Overture opens the programme.
Long Yu conductor
Serena Wang piano
Xiaoshuijing Farmers’ Choir
LI Spring Festival Overture
MENDELSSOHN Piano Concerto No. 1
–interval–
TRADITIONAL Four Yunnan folk songs
BEETHOVEN Choral Fantasy
The Xiaoshuijing Farmers’ Choir will be commencing a remarkable tour to the UK through the auspices of the KTWong Foundation, Pureland Foundation and the British Council.