The Well-Tempered Ear

Classical music: Want to know about Chinese classical music composers in our time? Read this story about the six-day Juilliard festival that starts today

By Jacob Stockinger

Classical music – like everything else in China – has undergone momentous changes over the past few decades.

The importance of Western classical music in contemporary China is not seen only through the construction of new conservatories and opera houses; or through the many outstanding instrumentalists, especially pianists such as Lang Lang, Yundi Li, Haochen Zhang and Sa Chen, who have won prizes in Western competitions and become major performers.

Chinese composers have also left their mark, as the Juilliard School in New York City will prove over six days, starting today, during this year’s “Focus” festival.

One such older composer is Chou Wen Chung (below, in a photo by Andrew Reneissen for The New York Times).

A much younger composer is Chen Lin (below in a photo by Dawes Li).

You will find some but not a lot of their music on YouTube – yet.

But The Ear bets that many of the 33 Juilliard performances will soon find their way to social media.

Anyway, here is a link to the comprehensive preview in The New York Times, which also features some sound and video samples.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/arts/music/juilliard-china-music.html