The program today is inspired by the elements Fire and Metal, which represent the seasons of summer and autumn in Chinese philosophy. Taking inspiration from the transition of late summer (a season over- brimming with life and burning red-hot) to autumn (a period of harvest) Fire and Metal is a celebration of the flowering and maturing stages of life. Anchored by Pulitzer Prize winner Zhou Long’s “Five Elements: Fire and Metal,” commissioned especially for today’s concert, the program transitions from the celebratory energy of “A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix”—the representative animal of fire—to the deliberate rhythms of “Picking Jujube” and “The Grapes are Ripe”. Opposite, yet complementary, the elements of Fire and Metal represent the crucial, intertwined forces of blooming and maturing life.
QING HOU Chicago Symphony Orchestra violinist and Chinese Fine Arts Society Artist in Residence PR O G R A M
P RELUDE : G RAND F ESTIVITY AH UNDRED B IRDS P AYING H OMAGE 普 天 同 慶 TOTHE P HOENIX 百 鸟 朝 凤 罗 逸 清 by BRENT ROMAN Cheng Da Drum Team 任 同 祥 arranged by REN TONG XIANG Yazhi Guo Suona O PENING R EMARKS Amy Briggs Piano
JULIE TIAO MA P ICKING J UJUBE Board President Chinese Fine Arts Society 打 枣 G OLDEN F IREBOX 郭 雅 志 arranged by Y A Z H I G U O 金 色 的 炉 台 Yuqi Deng Guzheng Yazhi Guo Suona 陈 钢 by C H E N G A N G Tao He Erhu Qing Hou Violin Yang Wei Pipa Amy Briggs Piano O NE N IGHTIN B EIJING C OLORSOF F OLK L IFE 北 京 一 夜 五 彩 民 风 陈 升 by C H E N S H E N G 郭 雅 志 by Y A Z H I G U O Yuqi Deng Guzheng Yazhi Guo Bass Suona, Xun, Dizi, Yazhi Guo Suona Guanzi, Hulusi & Leaf Tao He Erhu Yang Wei Pipa F IVE E LEMENTS : F IREAND M ETAL Megan Arns Percussion 五 行 : 火 & 金 D ANCEOFTHE G OLDEN S NAKE 周 龙 by Z H O U L O N G 金 蛇 狂 舞 Fifth House Ensemble: 聂 耳 by N I E E R Melissa Snoza Flute Jennifer Woodrum Clarinet Yuqi Deng Guzheng Drew Williams Violin Yazhi Guo Suona Jean Hatmaker Cello Tao He Erhu Qing Hou Violin with guest artists: Yang Wei Pipa Yang Wei Pipa Megan Arns Percussion P OSTLUDE : C HALLENGEAND R ESOLUTION T HE G RAPESARE R IPE 变 与 衡 葡 萄 熟 了 罗 逸 清 by BRENT ROMAN 周 维 by Z H O U W E I Cheng Da Drum Team Tao He Erhu Amy Briggs Piano PROGRAM NOTES C OLORS O F F OLK L IFE
Arranged by Yazhi Guo
P RELUDE : Arranged by Yazhi Guo, Colors of Folk Life is an interpretation of G RAND F ESTIVITY by Brent Roman Chinese folk music across many different ethnicities, featuring five different woodwind instruments: the xun, dizi, guanzi, bass suona and Based on a traditional Chinese tune, popular during festivities, the hulusi, as well as a leaf. melody is arranged in dominating drumming sounds accompanied by graceful metal cymbals and gong. Yazhi Guo
Winner of the Grand Prize in New York’s International G OLDEN F IREBOX by Chen Gang Pro Musicis Awards, 2012 Hong Kong Award for Best Artist in Music, and selected by China’s Ministry of Golden Firebox is an adaptation of the popular tenor song The Light of Culture as an Outstanding Musician, Yazhi Guo is not Chairman Mao Lights Up the Firebox, composed by the music composition only one of the best suona artists in Asia, but is a gifted department at the Shanghai Bureau of Metallurgical Industry. It was composer as well. Born in Shanxi, Guo graduated from written in the 1970's as part of Chen Gang's Red Violin collection. the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with distinctions. From 1999 to 2011, he was the principle Chen Gang suona player for the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, is chairman of the Hong Kong Suona Association, and is A key figure in contemporary Chinese music, Chen Gang was born in known for inventing a new “flexible core” for the Shanghai in 1935. He first studied composition with his father Chen instrument. Guo currently studies Jazz at the Berkeley School of Music. Ge Xin, followed by entry to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music in He is passionate about the role that improvisation plays in both 1955. In his final year of study at the conservatory he wrote, together traditional Chinese music and in jazz. For this concert, he has arranged with He Zhan Hao, The Butterfly Lovers. This violin concerto became two traditional folk pieces. one of the most popular and best loved Chinese compositions ever written, winning five Golden Record prizes as well as a Platinum W ORLD P REMIERE : Record prize. Chen is a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of F IVE E LEMENTS : F IRE A ND M ETAL Music. His works are famous for by Zhou Long their clever combination of rich national ethnic sentiment and great The Five Elements or movements ("wu xing" in Chinese) were held by contemporary composition the ancients to compose the physical universe and were later used in technique. traditional Chinese medicine to explain various phenomena. In Zhou’s five-movement music composition The Five Elements, each movement is represented by one of these elements. Together, they define the various stages of transformation in the recurring natural cycles of seasonal change, growth and decay. Like yin and yang, the Five Elements maintain their internal harmony through a system of mutual checks and more than a decade as music director of Music From China, an balances known as 'creative' and 'control' cycles. Both these cycles, organization based in New York City, he received ASCAP’s prestigious which counteract and balance one another, are in constant operation, Adventurous Programming Award in 1999. Zhou won the 2011 Pulitzer maintaining the dynamic fields of polar forces required to move and Prize in Music for his first opera, Madame White Snake. He currently is transform energies. Distinguished Professor of Composition at the conservatory affiliated with the University of Missouri-Kansas City and has taught at The first movement is Metal, which is a refined extract of Earth forged institutions across the US. by Fire. The sound of the forge is echoed by the striking chords of the pipa, which create distance in sonority. Wind and stringed instruments T HE G RAPES A RE R IPE recreate the flow of metallurgical elements, helped by percussion. This by Zhou Wei movement symbolizes the image of extraction and refinement.
Written in the early 1980s, The Grapes Are Ripe depicts a scene of The next movement is Fire. Just as spring develops celebration during the grape harvest in Xinjiang, the western-most naturally into summer, the aggressive and creative province in China. This piece is a staple in the erhu repertoire. energy of Wood matures into the flourishing 'full yang' energy of Fire. This movement contains consistent rhythmic drumming with an energetic figure played by Zhou Wei the ensemble. A famed erhu player and teacher, Zhou Wei (b.1961) is the principle erhu with The Five Elements for Piccolo, Clarinet, Percussion, Pipa, Violin the China Oriental Song and Dance and Violoncello was commissioned by the Chinese Fine Ensemble. He is known for combining Arts Society for Forces of Nature: The Five Elements Project, the erhu with instruments from made possible by the National Endowment for the Arts. southeastern China and for The project is dedicated to the memory of its founder, incorporating electronic sounds in his Barbara Tiao. compositions.
Zhou Long A H UNDRED B IRDS P AYING H OMAGE T O Zhou Long (b. 1953) is an internationally recognized composer whose music stretches Western instruments eastward and Chinese instruments T HE P HOENIX westward, achieving a fertile common ground. Born into an artistic Arranged by Ren Tong Xiang family, Zhou was sent to a state farm during the Cultural Revolution, where the bleak landscape made a lasting impression. In 1977, he A Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix is one of the best- enrolled in the reopened Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing known folk tunes in China. The song, first arranged for suona by Ren where he studied composition. In 1983, he was appointed composer-in- Tong Xiang, mimics a multitude of birdcalls, ostensibly as they pay residence with the National Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra of homage the phoenix, king of all birds in Chinese philosophy. China. Zhou immigrated to the U.S. in 1985 to attend Columbia University, receiving a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in 1993. After Ren Tong Xiang Chen Sheng
Primarily a suona player, Ren Tong Xiang is Chen Sheng (b. 1958) is a modern Taiwanese pop music composer. known as the Master of Traditional Chinese Originally a visual artist, Chen began his career in music as an assistant Music, having pioneered cross-instrumental at Zhong Yi Records. As a composer, he is represented by Rock techniques for the dizi (Chinese bamboo Records. He published his first album “the Crowded Playground” in flute) that were originally the sole domain of 1988. the suona. Xiang has composed many pieces for the suona and is a passionate teacher as D ANCE O F T HE G OLDEN S NAKE well. by Nie Er
P ICKING J UJUBE Based on an instrumental folk song, the song was rearranged and Arranged by Yazhi Guo renamed “Dance of the Golden Snake” in 1934.
Adapted from the folk tunes of Hebei province, Picking Jujube was Nie Er originally composed as a suona solo. The piece describes a scene of harvesting jujube, or red dates, a fruit indigenous and commonly found Nie Er (1912-1937) was born Nie Shouxin, but later changed his name in the terrain of East Asia. to “er” or ear, as rumor had it that he could imitate any sound he heard. Nie Er is most famous for “March of the Volunteers,” later adopted as O NE N IGHT I N B EIJING the national anthem of the People’s Republic of China. He passed away at the age of 23 in Japan, by drowning. All 37 of his compositions were by Chen Sheng written just two years before his death and most of them reflected the everyday struggles of the working class. Written by composer Cheng Sheng while recording a soundtrack in Beijing in the early 1990s, the inspiration came to Chen when he was eating lamb at roadside stall. Unable to tap into his creative juices, Chen shouted “Why am I in Beijing?” in a southern Chinese dialect. A friend marveled at how the outburst sounded like the phrase “One Night in Beijing,” but in English. These first few bars in the outburst were transformed into the modern Chinese pop classic it is today. P OSTLUDE : Megan Arns, percussion
C HALLENGE A ND R ESOLUTION by Brent Roman Megan Arns is currently pursuing a DMA in Percussion Performance & Literature Percussion music brings harmony, and at the same time, urgency to a and a MA in Ethnomusicology at the situation. The Phoenix bravely fights the fire and eventually rises from Eastman School of Music. She holds a the flame. Specialized choreography and costuming enhance the MA and a Certificate in World Music searing performance. from Florida State University and a BA from Truman State University. Active both as a contemporary chamber and Brent Roman world percussionist, Megan’s recent highlights include collaborative Brent Roman studied traditional Chinese music in 2000 at the performances all over the world at established venues. She is a co- Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, focusing on the founder of the award-winning chamber ensemble Denkyem Percussion Yang Qin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), and Luo Gu Group, which toured Costa Rica as a featured group of the “Promising (Chinese traditional percussion). With this training, Roman Artists of the 21st Century” series in 2010. She also has extensive spent seven years as resident composer, arranger, experience in the field of marching percussion. choreographer, instructor, and special guest soloist for the Cheng Da Drum Team. Roman’s compositions, written Amy Briggs, piano specifically for the group, have been performed throughout the US for the past 10 years. Based in Chicago, Amy Briggs is a featured soloist and chamber musician on the CSO’s MusicNOW series. She has performed worldwide with the Callisto Chamber Musicians, Kiang, the Empyrean PERFORMERS Ensemble, and Chicago Pro Musica, among others. She is a prizewinner at the 2000 Darmstadt Internationale Fereinkurse für Neue Musik and Cheng Da Drum Team the Joanna Hodges and Frinna Awerbuch International Piano Competitions. A graduate of Skidmore College and DePaul University, Established in 2000 by the Briggs received her doctorate from Northwestern University. In 2009 National Cheng Kung she joined the faculty at the University of Chicago as Director of University Alumni Chamber Music and Artist-in-Residence. Association (NCKUAA), the Cheng Da Drum Team is one of CFAS’s most beloved community partners. The Drum Team performs at Chinese community events, corporate functions, and city-wide events for the general public, and group mission is to bridge the gap between east and west through a cultural artistic exchange. Performers include: Sharon Kao, Liz Liu, Rui Tan, Christine Zhao, Iris Chen, Dani Kwang, Chung- der Young, Nancy Yeh and Composer/Music Director/Choreographer, Brent Roman. Yuqi Deng, guzheng scale personal solo concerts titled “Guo Yazhi’s Wind Music: World- Legend of the Suona” at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. As a result of YuQi Deng, a virtuosic guzheng performer, his success, Guo has changed perceptions of the suona as fashionable graduated from the Central Conservatory of and modern. Music in Beijing and has performed widely in China and other countries. She was the solo guzheng performer in the Chinese National Tao He, erhu Traditional Music Concert in celebration of the Tao He was a long-standing member of reunification of Hong Kong with China and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra for the was one of the winners of the National Guzheng Competition gaohu and previously a freelance musician sponsored by the China Culture Bureau in 1995. She holds recitals and with the Singapore Chinese Orchestra. frequently records guzheng music for record companies, CCTV, and a Originally from Shanghai, she started large number of TV series and programs. In 2007, Deng received her learning the erhu from her father when master’s degree in Ethnomusicology at the University of Washington in she was a child. She studied at the Department of Folk at the Central Seattle. Conservatory of Music in Beijing where she was studied with Nie Jingyu and China National Class One Recitalist Xu Jiangde. She Yazhi Guo, suona, xun, dizi, guanzi, hulusi,leaf minored in piano, cello, and guzheng and graduated in 1992. Upon graduation, He Tao joined the China Broadcast National Orchestra as Winner of the Grand an erhu and gaohu player. In 2000, she performed in the P2000 Prize in New York’s Campaign Rally and was received by the Prime Minister of Singapore, International Pro Musicis Goh Chok Tong. She has performed worldwide. Awards, 2012 Hong Kong Award for Best Artist in Music, and selected by Qing Hou, violin China’s Ministry of Qing Hou, violinist, has been a member of Culture as an Outstanding the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1997. Musician, Yazhi Guo is A native of China, Qing studied at the widely known as the best suona artist in Asia. Born in Shanxi, Guo Central Conservatory in Beijing before graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing with coming to the United States in 1988 to distinctions and eventually became a professor at his alma mater. From continue her studies. She holds degrees from 1999 to 2011, he was the principle suona player for the Hong Kong the Peabody Conservatory and New England Chinese Orchestra, is chairman of the Hong Kong Suona Association, Conservatory. Before joining the CSO, she was a member of the San and guest instructor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is Francisco Symphony. Qing, along with her sister, violinist Lei Hou, and known for inventing a new “flexible core” for the suona that allows the violist Lawrence Neuman (now Qing’s husband), all of whom are CSO instrument to play in large-scale symphonic orchestras that use more musicians, founded the Lincoln String Quartet. Qing is the Chinese modern arrangements. Apart from the suona, Guo can also play the Fine Arts Society’s 2013-2014 Artist-in-Residence and the lead curator pipe, sheng, piccolo, flute, ocarina, cucurbit flute, saxophone and even of Forces of Nature: The Five Elements Project. a ‘leaf’. In 2007, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra held two large- Yang Wei, pipa Melissa Snoza, flute
Yang has been a member of the Silk Road A passionate advocate for chamber Ensemble since 2000. He has toured from music, Melissa Snoza currently coast to coast in the United States, performs with the Peninsula Music performing at venues such as the Ravinia Festival and freelances throughout the International Music Festival, the Kimmel Chicago area. An active educator as Center, the Lincoln Center and the Chicago well, Melissa serves as Adjunct Symphony Center. In addition to these Professor of Flute at Carthage performances, he has served in residencies College, teaches a music for the Art Institute of Chicago and the entrepreneurship course at DePaul Humanity Institute at the University of Michigan. Yang was taught by University, and maintains a private pipa master Liu Dehai. At 18, he performed as a pipa soloist with the studio. She has been a member of the Shanghai Traditional Instruments Orchestra. In 1989, he was awarded a Civic Orchestra of Chicago, has performed with the New World First Prize at the International Competition of Chinese Traditional Symphony, the National Repertory Orchestra, and the Aspen Music Instruments. He moved to the United States in 1996, making his home Festival. Melissa is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music and in the Chicago area. In addition to playing with a variety of ensembles, Northwestern University, with principal teachers including Bonita Boyd Yang is committed to working as an educator and sharing his music and Walfrid Kujala. with the community around him.
Andrew Williams, violin FIFTH HOUSE ENSEMBLE: Violinist Andrew Williams has established himself as a dedicated Jean Hatmaker, cello chamber musician, soloist, and teacher throughout America. As a Jean Hatmaker began performing in 2009 with the member of the critically acclaimed Fifth House Ensemble, he has Kontras Quartet and has appeared in concert series performed at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre on their Composer across the east and Midwest. She has an extensive Portrait series, on Rush Hour’s yearly summer music background in ensemble playing, having been series, and participated in many master classes at principal cellist of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and institutions such as the University of Wisconsin- Symphony Orchestra Augusta. In addition to her Madison and New Music on the Point. As a performance career, Hatmaker has a passion for teacher, Williams teaches at the Merit School of teaching and has worked with the Chicago Symphony Music, where he has been on faculty for 5 years. Orchestra's Institute for Learning, Access and Training Williams is a dedicated Suzuki teacher and as a member of MusiCorps, an outreach concert supplements the repertoire with modern pieces, as organization. She joined the faculty of Elmhurst College in 2013 and he believes in exposing students to contemporary holds a BM and a MM in cello performance from Indiana University, styles. where she studied under the direction of Janos Starker. Jennifer Woodrum, clarinet
Jennifer Woodrum, born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, maintains a busy schedule playing and teaching clarinet throughout Illinois. Woodrum holds degrees from Northwestern University (BA & MA), where she studied with Russell Dagon. She has received awards from local competitions including the Evanston Music Club, the Farwell Award from the Chicago Musicians’ Club of Women, the Union League Civic and Arts Foundation, and the American Opera Society. Woodrum has been a member of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago and the Rockford Symphony. She has performed with the Elgin Symphony, the Ravinia Festival Orchestra, the South Bend THE FIVE ELEMENTS PROJECT Symphony, and the Grant Park Symphony.
Metal… Wood… Water… Fire… Earth. The Five Elements are used in Chinese philosophy, art and science to describe natural phenomena. Inspired by the Chinese Fine Arts Society’s late founder Barbara Tiao, who many considered to be a “force of nature,” the Chinese Fine Arts Qing Hou, curator Society’s Five Elements Project is a yearlong celebration of CFAS’ 30th This program has been curated by CFAS Artist-in-Residence, Qing anniversary. Throughout the year, CFAS has presented a series of Hou. Hou has been a member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts, workshops, lectures and events that explore the Five since 1997. A native of China, Hou studied at the Central Elements. This ancient concept provides a rich platform to broaden Conservatory in Beijing before coming to the United States in 1988 to knowledge of Chinese culture and paves the way for further exploration continue her studies. She holds degrees from the Peabody of China’s 5000-year-old artistic heritage. Conservatory and New England Conservatory. Before joining the CSO,
she was a member of the San Francisco Symphony. Hou, along with her The finale of the series will be at 7:30 PM on November 14 in Nichols Concert Hall at sister and fellow violinist Lei Hou and violist Lawrence Neuman (Hou’s the Music Institute of Chicago in Evanston. husband), all of whom are CSO musicians, founded the Lincoln String Quartet. A PRIMER ON CHINESE INSTRUMENTS
What is a pipa?
The pipa is a four stringed lute with a pear-shaped body. During the What is a guzheng? Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C. – 220 A.D.), instruments with long, straight-necks and round resonators were played with a forward and The guzheng, or Chinese zither, has a history of over 2,000 years and backward plucking motion that sounded like “pi” and “pa” to fanciful originated from the Qin State during the Warring period (450- 221 ears. During the Tang dynasty, the pipa evolved to include a crooked BC). The modern day Guzheng is a plucked, half-tube zither with neck lute with a pear-shaped body. Today, the pipa remains one of the movable bridges and 21 strings, although it can have anywhere from 13 most popular instruments in Chinese music. Playing the pipa requires to 26 strings. The Guzheng’s strings were formerly made of twisted silk, astounding manual dexterity and includes rolls, plucking, and though by the 20th century most players used metal strings. Since the percussive slaps, producing a fascinating variety of sounds. mid-20th century, most performers use steel strings flat wound with nylon.
What is an erhu?
The erhu is a spike fiddle with two strings. It has a long neck and a What is a suona? round, hexagonal, or octagonal body made of wood and covered with snake skin. The bow used to play the erhu is made of horsehair strung The souna is a Chinese woodwind instrument. Like the clarinet or on a stick of bamboo. In performance, the erhu is held in the player’s oboe, the suona is made of a mouthpiece with two reeds connected to a left hand and supported on the left thigh while the right hand moves wooden, conical-shaped body with holes and a flared metal bell at end. the bow. Instruments similar to the erhu have been prevalent in Chinese Players control the volume, pitch, and timbre through the mouthpiece music since the 12th century CE. The fiddle’s fine, lyrically expressive and notes are produced through the holes on the body of the sound has made it a popular solo instrument in small folk ensembles and instrument. The suona is popular in many traditional rituals and is often in Chinese national orchestras. played during weddings, funerals, and other key events. The suona produces clear, bright notes that can be said to resemble birdcalls, as is seen in the piece “Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix.” What is a xun? What is a dizi?
The xun is one of the oldest instruments still in use in China and is a The dizi is a bamboo flute and is a major instrument used in Chinese vessel flute. Originally made of bone, the xun is now commonly made folk music, opera, and large-scale orchestras. Dating from roughly the of glazed clay with two thumbholes in the back and can have up to 5th century BC (or earlier), the dizi used to be made from a single piece eight finger holes in the front, with a blowing hole on top. The xun of bamboo, but modern alterations include a metal joint between two comes in a variety of sizes; the larger the instrument is, the lower the bamboo pieces, enabling the instrument to be tuned for modern pitch. The xun came about as a result of hunting practices during the orchestras. The most common variety has six finger holes and an Stone Age, when a ball (sometimes hollow) was tied to a rope and embouchure. However, the dizi also has a distinctive, additional hole thrown, causing air to flow through and create sounds. below the embouchure that is covered with a special tissue-like reed shaving.
What is a hulusi? What is a guanzi? The hulusi is a wind instrument composed of a gourd (the wind chest) attached to three bamboo pipes. The center pipe has finger holes and The guan or guanzi is a cylindrical, end-blown woodwind instrument the outer two are usually drone pipes. Originally used by ethnic groups played with two reeds. Developed in the Tang dynasty, the guanzi was in southern China such as the Dai, the hulusi has gained widespread first used in courts but eventually became more popular in folk music. popularity in China, as modifications have extended the range of the Typically, the guanzi is made of a short, cylindrical hardwood pipe with instrument to several octaves. seven finger holes on top, one thumb hole in the back, and is played with a double reed. The guanzi’s range is about two and a half octaves. ABOUT CFAS DONATE TO THE 30TH ANNIVERSARY FUND
The Chinese Fine Arts Society is a Chicago-based non-profit dedicated Celebrate three decades of Chinese music, dance, and visual arts with to promoting the appreciation of Chinese culture, enhancing cultural the Chinese Fine Arts Society! In honor of our 30th Anniversary, please exchange, and pursuing excellence in Chinese music, dance, and visual consider making a donation to support the continual growth of the arts. For thirty years, we have brought together people from diverse organization. Your generous support enables the continuation of backgrounds around a common goal: to celebrate the beauty and excellence in Chinese artistic programming from our annual Chinese majesty of traditional and contemporary Chinese arts. New Year celebrations to the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius and our numerous main stage concerts. Our programs fall into three main focus areas: THE 30X30 CHALLENGE MAIN STAGE PROGRAMMING In recognition of this 30-year milestone, Dr. George Tiao has Chinese music concerts, many of which are free and open to the public, generously offered to match up to $30,000 in new or increased in high profile venues including the Chicago Cultural Center, donations. There is truly no better time to make your support count! Millennium Park’s Jay Pritzker Pavilion, and the Art Institute of Chicago, feature works by leading Chinese composers and are For more information and to make a contribution, please visit performed by luminaries from Chicago’s classical music world. chinesefinearts.org/support-us or make a check payable to the Chinese Fine Arts Society at: COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT THE CHINESE FINE ARTS SOCIETY CFAS presents a broad variety of multidisciplinary arts programs 2936 N Southport Avenue featuring traditional Chinese dance, musical instruments, martial arts, Chicago, IL 60657 lion dance, opera and calligraphy to the greater Chicago area. We have sponsored/cosponsored Chinese New Year, Autumn Moon Festival, and Asian Heritage Month celebrations at Adler Planetarium, Daley Center, CFAS is a 501(c)(3) organization. Your contribution is tax Millennium Park and Navy Pier as well as area libraries, schools, deductible to the fullest extent allowed by the law. nursing homes and other venues.
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The Music Festival in Honor of Confucius, our longest running When you join the Chinese Fine Arts Society (CFAS) as a member, you program, introduces participants to the rich heritage of Chinese music will receive our annual newsletter, notification of upcoming events, and through competitions, workshops, scholarships and performance other benefits. Download a PDF of our membership form at opportunities. CFAS also sponsors the annual Barbara Tiao Composition chinesefinearts.org/support-us or sign up at the information kiosk on Competition to encourage young Chinese composers to explore cross the south west side of the seating bowl as you leave the Pavilion. cultural themes and western instrumentation. C FA S S TA F F 30TH ANNIVERSARY DONORS
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TONY GOURMET GROUP UPCOMING CFAS EVENTS
September 12, 2014, 6:30 pm
AUTUMN MOON FESTIVAL GALA Pagoda Red 1714 N Damen Ave, Chicago
October 19, 2014
30TH ANNUAL MUSIC FESTIVAL IN HONOR OF CONFUCIUS Merit School of Music 38 South Peoria Street, Chicago
November 14, 2014, 7:30 pm
FIVE ELEMENTS PROJECT: FINALE Nichols Concert Hall 1490 Chicago Avenue, Evanston
Visit chinesefinearts.org for more information BARBARA TIAO 1 9 3 2 - 2 0 0 8
Barbara Tiao was born in Shanghai, China, moved to Taiwan in 1949, and immigrated to the US in 1957 to attend Skidmore College. There, she was considered a “cultural ambassador,” sharing her culture with the college community.
In 1958, she and husband George moved to Madison, Wisconsin. There, Barbara taught piano, organized Chinese cultural events and a Chinese language school, all while raising their family. They moved to Chicago in 1982, when George joined the faculty at University of Chicago. She continued to teach piano, and in 1984 was inspired to start the Chinese Fine Arts Society (CFAS). The initial objective was to introduce young artists to Chinese culture through the Music Festival in Honor of Confucius, a music performance competition. Shortly thereafter, presenting all Chinese music concerts became a second focus area. CFAS also began outreach to schools and community events. In 2000, she shifted her focus to enhancing the Chinese music canon by spearheading the first CFAS-sponsored international composition competition, where composers world wide are encouraged to create new works inspired by Chinese cultural themes, culminating in highly acclaimed world premiere concerts.
Barbara held degrees from the University of Wisconsin, and Taiwan Normal University. She was a loving wife for 49 years, mother of four children, grandmother of nine, teacher to hundreds of young pianists and cultural ambassador to all.