¡¡¡¡The
founding of the Chinese Opera Orchestra of Shanghai by
the Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group at the beginning
of 2010 was heralded as a major event in preserving and
popularizing Chinese traditional music and in making it
accessible to people of all ages in the region, the nation
and the world! The competitive selection of musicians,
all graduates of top Chinese conservatories and art institutions,
assured that the orchestra would have the most highly
skilled solo and ensemble players available. Under the
leadership of artistic director and conductor Maestro
Wang Yongji, the orchestra has specialized in bringing
richly crafted arrangements of Chinese folk music and
exciting performances of the best music from the repertoire
of traditional Chinese opera.
¡¡¡¡The orchestra strives to preserve and also to renew
the traditions that have represented Chinese musical culture
for centuries. Folk music and the music of the many forms
of Chinese opera (i.e. Peking Opera, Huai Opera, Yue Opera,
etc.) are of profound cultural significance for China
and for Chinese audiences; they represent the essence
of Chinese national musical art.
¡¡¡¡These
fine musicians are bringing the sounds of many traditional
Chinese instruments to audiences everywhere¡ªinstruments
such as erhu, guzheng, pipa, sanxian, suona, liuqin,
sheng, paixiao, yangqin, zhongyuan, jinghu, dizi, zhonghu,
konghou, gaohu, and many traditional percussion instruments.
Sometimes Maestro Wang and the musicians broaden the
world reach of their artistry by playing unique arrangements
of Western music or by adding the sonorities of classical
Western instruments to these ancient Chinese instruments.
The orchestra also often performs with top vocal soloists
from the most outstanding traditional opera companies.
¡¡¡¡The
quality of the orchestra and its performances under
Maestro Wang was immediately recognized and honored.
It was recently selected to represent the city of Shanghai
in two gala performances at the Shanghai International
Expo and was selected as one of the famous international
groups celebrating the 2010 Asia Games in Guangzhou.
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