Tan Dun 
Martin GrubingerPhoto by Felix Broede “To me, Martin Grubinger is one of the few musicians that has truly struck a chord in me and made it impossible for me to stop thinking about creating something for him” states Tan Dun when talking about composing Percussion Concerto: The Tears of Nature, his new percussion concerto composed and commissioned specifically for Grubinger.
“I wanted to create something special for the hunger of his beating heart and his vibrating soul. This piece is not only written as an admiration of such a refined artist, but a duet between him and me. It is about the beautiful sadness of nature’s predicament and the threat to our survival today. Throughout the music, nature’s tears tell us the threat to our survival is ourselves.”
Percussion Concerto: The Tears of Nature was commissioned by Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR), The Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Bergen Philharmonic and the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich for renowned percussionist Martin Grubinger. The world premiere was postponed last August after Grubinger sustained a shoulder injury. The NDR Sinfonieorchester and Grubinger present the official world premiere performance on December 13 in Lubeck, Germany with Tan Dun conducting. Grubinger performs the US premiere with the The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Christoph Eschenbach January 4-6, 2013. Bergen Philharmonic presented a performance in October. The Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich will present a performance on September 1, 2013 with David Zinman as conductor.
While in Europe last month, Tan Dun was awarded the 2012 D. D. Shostakovich Award by the Yuri Bashmet International Charitable Foundation, at a ceremony and concert in Russia. Tan Dun is the first artist from China to have received the award. At the award concert, Tan Dun conducted a performance of Death and Fire: Dialogue with Paul Klee with the Symphony Orchestra of New Russia.
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