Renowned composer Tan Dun will conduct Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in the Australian premiere of Choral Concerto: Nine, together with his Concerto for Violin.
Along with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Choral Concerto: Nine was commissioned by Deutsche Musikrat, BTHVN 2020, Royal Philharmonic Society, and Deutsche Welle to mark the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven.
When the pandemic took hold, Tan Dun reconceived the commission, expanding it to three movements respectively titled Nine, Wine and Time (Ode to Peace). The work juxtaposes Chinese texts alongside the words of Ode to Joy by Friedrich Schiller. “The function of music is to bridge everybody together,” he explains. “So, now it’s time to show how and why the gods needed to invent music for the human being. It must be the bridge to make all these quarantined people, to make all the separate spirits, be together again.”
Lu Siqing is the soloist in the Concerto for Violin which is based on the composer's score for the critically-acclaimed martial arts film Hero, in which the character Snow sacrifices her life for the love of her country.
Tan Dun will also be in conversation with Stéphanie Kabanyana Kanyandekwe to discuss his life and works.
Premier performance of Nine
September 14
Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne
Melbourne, Australia
Tan Dun in Conversation
September 11
Iwaki Auditorium
Melbourne, Australia
