On the evening of Oct. 26 EST, Shi Jian, a Ph.D. candidate in Orthopedics from theThird Xiangya Hospital of Central South Universitysuccessfully held a piano solo recital “The New Sounds of America and China” inCarnegie Hall in New York. All seats in the concert hall were occupied and the music feast won prolonged applause.
“The New Sounds of America and China”, the first solo recital held by a medical student of China in Carnegie Hall, was co-directed by CSU, Cornell University and Julliard School of Music, supported by Chinese Consulate-General in New York and China Scholarship Council and specially assisted by Xiangya Overseas Alumni Association and NewPath Diagnostics.
One week before the concert, the concert propaganda had been incessantly broadcasted on the screens of Nasdaq and Thomson Reuters towers and aroused widespread concern.
This concert ingeniously interwove ten contemporary works by American and Chinese composers, including classic piano concertos of China and AmericaYellow River Piano ConcertoandRhapsody in Blue, contemporary works such asTroublemaker, a new work of composer C.Theofanidis andEight Memories in Watercolorby Tan Dun, and two world premieres namely Review ofCross Creek and Waldencomposed by Shi Jian specially for Carnegie Hall andConcert Etude “North by Northwest”by B. Hermann. At the half-time interval, Zhang Zhehao, Shi Jian’ student, played a Chinese workPictures of Bashuand an American workTom and Jerry.
At the end ofYellow River Piano Concerto, the last piece of the second half, Shi Jian played in front of cheering audiences the encore Liuyang River, a folk song in Hunan Province of China.
After the show, Chinese audiences said, “the surging melody and vigor ofYellow River Piano Concertomakes ourhearts surging; so touched and excited hearing the sound from our motherland”.
Shi Jian said,
“Playing classic and contemporary works of America and China in the most famous mainstream stage of America not only presents Chinese culture to the world, but reflects the convergence and integration of new sounds of America and China and the style and features of contemporary music and the cultural image with higher value for globalization. I wish, through this international stage, the demeanor of CSU students could be more recognized; moreover,the New Sounds of America and Chinawill help promote the friendship and cultural exchange between America and China.”
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Shi Jian, a Ph.D. candidate and an orthopedist of the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, is sponsored by the government for combined training in Cornell University and at the same time studies in the senior piano training class of Juilliard School. He is now a member of the Chinese Musicians Association, a member of the New York Piano Society and the Executive Vice President of Hunan Piano Art Committee of the World Chinese Musicians Association, and serves as the judge of PETROF International Piano Competition and International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition for Young Pianists in the contest area of Hunan.
Carnegie Hall, built by steel king and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie at the 57thStreet of New York in 1891, is one of the most prestigious venues in the world and has topped the ten best concert halls for many years. It is designed with an architectural style of Renaissance Revival and has the world-class stereo and hardware equipment. The concert for its official opening was conducted by great Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and the most renowned musicians around the world were attracted to make their debut here. The premiere of many excellent works by famous composers such as Dvorak, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky, Gershwin and Bernstein was conducted by world-famous conductors including Toscanini, Karajan, Seiji Ozawa and Zubin Mehta. Well-known Chinese pianists Lang Lang, Li Yundi, Zhang Haochen and Wang Yujia have successively held their solo recitals in Carnegie Hall, and even pop stars like Whitney Houston, Lady Gaga, Rolling Stone and the Beatles have given concerts here. Giving performance here has become a symbol of success in classic and popular music.
