In Chinese thought, spring is associated with the direction east. As Earth spins us toward this season of renewal, the Kronos Quartet's captivating program is an aural and visual meditation of a deep—and changing—connection to nature in Chinese culture. From sky (Phillip Glass's Orion: China) to land (Four Chinese Paintings) to a single home (A Chinese Home), pipa virtuoso Wu Man anchors stories about life and traditions that are classic Kronos.
Planned Program:
Philip Glass: Orion: China
(arr. Michael Riesman)
Wu Man: Four Chinese Paintings
(arr. Danny Clay)
I. Gobi Desert at Sunset
II. Turpan Dance
III. Ancient Echo
IV. Silk and Bamboo
A Chinese Home
Conceived by Wu Man, David Harrington, and Chen Shi-Zheng
Part I.Return
Part II.Shanghai
Part III.The East is Red
Part IV.Made in China
About A Chinese Home
Inspired by an 18th-century Anhui province house, the 50-minute work is a travelogue of Chinese history, complete with costume changes, visual projections, props and heavy metal shredding on an electric pipa.
Beginning with 19th-century mountain dances, the high concept and cross-cultural piece advances to jazzy 1930s Shanghai and the horrors of the Sino-Japanese war to Chairman Mao and then contemporary China. Evenings of moments like this are signature Kronos Quartet. That they also contain humor is all the better.
To purchase tickets, please visit the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center website.