Contributed Photo: The GVAC will open its season with performances by Yihan Chen, left, and Paul Galbraith on Sept. 25, at the David M. Player Center for the Arts, starting at 7 p.m.
Contributed Article/Courtesy GVAC
The Gila Valley Arts Council is proud to present Yihan Chen, pipa, and Paul Galbraith, 8-string classical guitar, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m. at the David M. Player Center for the Arts, inside the smaller Mark Tregaskes Recital Hall to provide the audience with a more intimate experience. Yihan and Paul will be performing one after the other, in consecutive short recitals. The theme of their presentation, East Meets West, will attempt to share a few of the musical contrasts between the Orient and the Occident, Asian vs European. GVAC expects this to be one of their most unique and unusual recitals of the season.
Some of the pieces to be performed by each are:
Yihan Chen, pipa
Sunny Spring White Snow (阳春白雪）Traditional
Dance of the Yi People (彝族舞曲）Huiran Wang (b.1936)
Dragon Boat (龙船）Folk song
The Little Moon High（小月儿高）Traditional
Ambush from Ten Sides ( 十面埋伏）Traditional
Send Me a Rose ( 送我一支玫瑰花）Xinjiang Folk song
Paul Galbraith, 8-string classical guitar
Sylvius Leopold Weiss (1687-1750)
Passacaglia
Lennox Berkeley (1903-1989)
Sonatina Op. 52a
i. Allegretto
iii. Rondo, Allegro non troppo
Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
Four Pieces:
“Short Study” (Album for the Young, Op.68 no.14)
“Fantasy Dance” (Album Leaves, Op.124 no.5)
“Vision” (Album Leaves, Op.124 no.14)
“Mignon” (Album for the Young Op.68 no.35)
Enrique Granados (1867-1916)
Valses Poeticos
Vivace molto e melodico; Tempo de vals noble; Tempo de vals lento; Allegretto umoristico; Allegretto (Elegante); Quasi ad libitum (Sentimental); Vivo; Presto; da capo vals noble
Isaac Albeniz (1860-1909)
Prelude, Op.165, no.1 (from España)
Sevilla, Op.47 (from Suite Española)
Born in Wenzhou, China, Yihan Chen started learning Pipa when she was 8 years old. She was exclusively chosen for the Pipa major by the middle school affiliated with the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing in 1985. Yihan was admitted to the China Conservatory in 1991. She studied with Pipa masters Wu Junsheng, Wang Fandi, and Liu Dehai. After graduating from the Conservatory with a Bachelor’s degree in 1995, Yihan served as the Pipa instructor in the middle school affiliated with the China Conservatory of Music. After arriving in the USA, she started working with Music From China in New York. As a pipa soloist, Yihan has performed in Asia, North America, and Europe, such as the Spoleto Festival USA 2012, and Lincoln Center Festival. de création musicale de Radio France, Le Festival Avignon, Le Festival Musique en Scène, Encontros Acarte 98 Portugal, La Cité de la Musique, Lotus Festival, and Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s New Music Festival. Yihan has collaborated with renowned composers such as Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Chen Qigang, and Bright Sheng. She has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Library of Congress, and other leading venues.
Internationally renowned, Paul Galbraith is one of the finest active guitarists today, as well as a brilliant innovator. His continuing quest to overcome the guitar’s technical limitations later led Paul to develop a new instrument, which would better correspond to musical needs. Wishing to play the lute works of Dowland and Bach in their original versions, as well as transcriptions of a wide range of music including Brahms, whose Op.21 Variations he was working on at the time, he conceived the idea of a guitar with two extra strings surrounding the traditional six – one lower and one higher. For this exciting new venture, Paul collaborated with the renowned English luthier, David Rubio. Rubio’s extended work on the eight-string ‘Brahms Guitar’ (as Rubio subsequently named the new instrument, due to his surprise at how ‘Brahmsian’ the Op.21 Variations sounded to him on this guitar) first came to fruition in the form of ‘prototype’, completed during the last days of 1993. Several highly acclaimed recordings attest to these developments, as well as to his searching artistic temperament and mastery. Since the mid-nineties, Paul has toured the USA annually, and performed throughout the UK, Switzerland, and the European Union, as well as in China, South America, South Korea, Russia, Norway, Iceland, Australia, and Canada.
Paul Galbraith and Yihan Chen appear by arrangement with Lisa Sapinkopf Artists.
Tickets are currently on sale at Richards Music, 928-428-2442, online at www.saffordcenterforthearts.com, or at the door. Adult ticket prices are only $15 or $20 and are all reserved seating. GVAC is still proud to offer special prices for children and students for only $5 for all seating levels, premium or standard in any section.
The GVAC can keep our ticket prices low because of the support we receive from several sources. We graciously thank our individual donors who join as supporting members every year. This school residency and public performance project was made possible by funding received from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, WESTAF (The Western States Arts Federation), and the National Endowment for the Arts. GVAC is also very grateful for the support received from the United Way of Graham and Greenlee Counties, Freeport McMoRan Corporation, and the Arizona Community Foundation of the Gila Valley.
