Back to Press Release List > 09/10/2009 - Ancient Paths, Modern Voices Festival Opens with Marionette Theater, Traditional Music, and Dance

From October 21 to November 10, 2009, Carnegie Hall presents Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture, paying tribute to China’s diverse and vibrant culture and its influence around the world with 21 days of events at Carnegie Hall and New York partner institutions.

The festival’s opening days are filled with an incredibly rich variety of traditional music from China. Carnegie Hall presentations include marionette music theater from the city of Quanzhou in southeast China, where this art form stretches back thousands of years, and two programs created by pipa virtuoso Wu Man. She’ll bring together many styles of Chinese music from different cultures and regions for her concerts, featuring some artists who have never before performed outside of China.

Traditional music is also woven into opening weekend events presented by festival partners, from a program pairing calligraphy and the qin (seven-string plucked zither) at the China Institute, to a traditional Chinese teahouse with musical performance at the Asia Society. Moving from ancient music to modern dance, Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents a program of discussion and performance with the Chinese-American choreographer Shen Wei.

Tickets for all events at Carnegie Hall go on sale Thursday, September 10 at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800, or online at carnegiehall.org. In conjunction with Ancient Paths, Modern Voices, Carnegie Hall has launched a special web site: carnegiehall.org/chinafestival. This online companion features the most up-to-date information on festival events as well as video interviews and performance excerpts from featured artists, as well as insights into Chinese culture and festival programs.

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture is made possible by a leadership gift from Henry R. Kravis in honor of his wife, Marie-Josée.

Quanzhou Marionette Theater: Wednesday, October 21
Carnegie Hall launches its festival with Quanzhou Marionette Theater on Wednesday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m. in Zankel Hall. The leading performers of this ancient tradition from Fujian Province in southern China, Quanzhou Marionette Theater will bring together singing, musical accompaniment, and puppetry to present exquisite tales from a variety of Chinese folk tales, including “The Young Monk Goes to Town,” “Three Battles with the Skeleton Enchantress,” and “Drunken Zhongkui”. Plots in this regional form of Chinese puppet opera are taken from famous legends of the long Imperial period, also familiar in fiction, and fall into two main categories: martial (such as famous battles and righteous rebellions) and civil (like romances between young scholars and maidens). The music features recitation and vocal melody accompanied by strings, wind, and percussion. (View video excerpts at carnegiehall.org/chinafestival.)

For thousands of years, marionette theater has conveyed the rituals and customs of the Fujian people. Also called “Xuan Si Kui Lei” in ancient times, it originated during the Qin and Han Dynasties and became popular in the Quanzhou area during the late Tang and Wu Dai Dynasties. Founded in 1952 as the inheritor of this long tradition, the Quanzhou Marionette Theater has preserved over 700 traditional plays and over 300 unique pieces of music and has also formed a complete set of string rules and puppet head carving skills. The group has toured over 40 countries and won numerous awards in various international festivals and competitions. This will be only the group’s second visit to New York, following a 2005 invitation to the Chinese New Year Celebration at the United Nations. Last year, the Quanzhou Marionette Theater was honored to perform at the opening ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing.

Wu Man, Taste of China & Ancient Spirits: Friday, October 23 and Saturday, October 24
During the opening weekend of Ancient Paths, Modern Voices, pipa virtuoso Wu Man serves as curator and performer in two programs presented by Carnegie Hall in Zankel Hall that feature an amazing assortment of traditional music from China. Since her move to the United States 19 years ago, Wu Man has become a cultural ambassador, introducing her instrument to Western audiences through her solo performances and collaborations with Kronos Quartet and the Silk Road Ensemble. Along the way, her work has also led her back to her own rediscovery of China’s ancient musical traditions. On routine visits to China’s rural areas, Wu Man interacts with shadow puppeteers and farmers, performs with Daoists and local village bands, gaining inspiration from them all.

In her own words, Wu Man discusses the idea behind her programs:

Since I moved to the United States, I’ve had a lot of chances to work with many different musicians, different groups, and also different styles: with Western classical instruments, with jazz musicians, with musicians from Africa and many different countries. I realized I had missed something…I realized I needed to go back to China. I needed to find out the real roots of my instrument, of what is called traditional music.

I visited rural, remote areas. I found that live music was incredibly rich and incredibly important in those small villages…I want to show audiences the other side of China. It’s not big cities. It’s not Shanghai, Beijing, high buildings, all the cars. I want to show the real China, the China I grew up with, which still exists everywhere. Wu Man brings together five distinct styles of traditional music for her two programs. Taste of China on Friday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m. features a Dong Female Singing Group from Guizhou province in southeastern China. The Dong people, one of China’s 55 minorities, have long been considered one of the most musical with both solo and communal singing as active parts of their rural life. Taste of China also features qin player Zhao Jiazhen, from Beijing, who will demonstrate the stringed instrument’s scholarly appeal among China’s Han majority, which has lasted for thousands of years. Completing the first program is Ba Da Chui, an innovative quartet of conservatory-trained percussionists, also from Beijing, whose name means “eight great hammers” and whose main inspiration is the complex percussion accompanying Peking opera.

Ancient Spirits on Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. features two unique ensembles performing traditional music usually heard at village rituals, including temple fairs, weddings, funerals, and seasonal festivities. This music can be traced back millennia, and is still deeply rooted in the daily life of Chinese villagers today. The Li Family Daoist Band, from the Datong region in the north of Shanxi province close to Mongolia, is one of the most prestigious of the Daoist ritual groups, with a heritage of some nine generations. The Daoists’ vocal liturgy and percussion ensemble, along with melodic music from the guanzi (similar to an oboe) and sheng (reed mouth-organ), accompanies processions and rituals in their communities. The Zhang Family Band, comprised of farmers from the rural areas of Shaanxi just east of Xi’an in northwest China, tours the nearby countryside to perform its rugged shadow puppet dramas at temple fairs and rituals, promoting the well-being of families. Their shadow puppetry is accompanied by guttural, hoarse singing as well as percussion, fiddle, lute, and shawm (a double-reed instrument similar to the oboe).

For a video interview with Wu Man discussing these groups, along with select performance footage from some of them, please visit carnegiehall.org/chinafestival.

Many of the ensembles featured in these programs are also performing in other locations during the festival’s opening weekend. Ba Da Chui and the Zhang Family Band each perform in a Neighborhood Concert presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute, while the Dong Female Singing Group and qin player Zhao Jiazhen both perform at the Chinese Teahouse event at the Asia Society. (See below for complete program information.)

October 22-25: Partner Events

Qin and Chinese Calligraphy: October 22 at 6:30 p.m., China Institute
The aesthetics shared by qin musicians and Chinese calligraphers will be discussed and demonstrated by Mingmei Yip at this special event. The linear quality of calligraphy and the melodic lines of the qin (seven-stringed zither) embody the interplay between yin and yang, sound and space. The ancient Chinese philosophy of nurturing life and longevity by harnessing breath, energy, and qi (chi) is aspired to through qin playing and calligraphic brush strokes. Presented by China Institute.

Shen Wei Dance Arts at 10: October 24 & 25 at 7:30 p.m., Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Last year, the world watched as Shen Wei’s modern dance took center stage at the Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Beijing. This fall, the New York-based company Shen Wei Dance Arts launches its 10th anniversary season with a program that explores Shen Wei’s creative process through performance and discussion with the artist. A reception with the artists follows in the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum. Presented by Works & Process at the Guggenheim.

Chinese Teahouse: October 25 at 7:00 p.m., Asia Society
A traditional Chinese teahouse presents the culture of music and tea together. This special event features an intimate meeting of the two at Asia Society, featuring music making by the women singers from the Dong minority group and Zhao Jiazhen performing on the qin. Presented by Asia Society.

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices
This fall, Carnegie Hall presents Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture, paying tribute to China’s diverse and vibrant culture and its influence around the world with 21 days of events at Carnegie Hall and New York partner institutions, presented from October 21 to November 10, 2009. An exciting new alliance between Carnegie Hall and Segerstrom Center for the Arts will also bring select Ancient Paths, Modern Voices programming to Costa Mesa, California, resulting in a festival presented simultaneously by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County and partner institutions on the West Coast from October 11 to November 24, 2009.

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices features performances by leading international musicians, including some artists traveling outside China for the first time. Festival performances will feature many genres of music—from Western symphonic and chamber music influenced by Chinese culture to Chinese traditional folk music and contemporary music, including premieres by internationally recognized Chinese composers Chen Qigang, Tan Dun, and Angel Lam. The festival exploration also includes a wide variety of other offerings on each coast, including traditional marionette theater, dance, film screenings, calligraphy, panel discussions, and art exhibitions, offering insights into a world that mixes the ancient and the modern, the traditional and the cutting-edge.

With over 30 events, the reach of Ancient Paths, Modern Voices in New York will be extended throughout the city through partnerships between Carnegie Hall and other prestigious cultural institutions: Asia Society, China Institute, Works & Process at the Guggenheim, The Joyce Theater, The Juilliard School, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Chinese in America, and The Paley Center for Media, as well as through a series of free Neighborhood Concerts presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute in the community venues of Flushing Town Hall in Queens as well as Abrons Arts Center at Henry Street Settlement and The Performance Project @ University Settlement on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Ancient Paths, Modern Voices Program Information

(All programs presented by Carnegie Hall unless otherwise noted.)

Wednesday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
QUANZHOU MARIONETTE THEATER

Auspicious Ritual Overture
The Young Monk Goes to Town
Ruolan’s Journey
Drunken Zhongkui
Three Battles with the Skeleton Enchantress
Lantern Festival

The Quanzhou Marionette Theater is the foremost exponent of this ancient tradition from Fujian Province in southern China. For this performance, which includes singing and musical accompaniment, the troupe performs excerpts from a wide variety of traditional Chinese folk tales.

Tickets: $30, $42
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Thursday, October 22 at 6:30 p.m.
China Institute (125 East 65th Street)
CHINA FESTIVAL PARTNER EVENT: QIN AND CHINESE CALLIGRAPHY
Mingmei Yip, Qin

The linear quality of calligraphy and the melodic lines of qin music embody the interplay between yin and yang, sound and space. In this lecture-demonstration, Mingmei Yip explores the ancient Chinese philosophy of nurturing life and longevity by harnessing breath, energy, and qi (chi) through qin-playing and calligraphic brush strokes.

Presented by China Institute. For more information: 212-744-8181, chinainstitute.org

Tickets: $10 China Institute member / $15 non-member
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Friday, October 23 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
TASTE OF CHINA
Wu Man, Curator, Pipa, and Host
Dong Female Singing Group
Zhao Jiazhen, Qin
Ba Da Chui, Percussion Quartet

From ancient court music to folk music, this concert presents a wide range of traditional Chinese musical styles performed by a variety of self-taught performers and classically trained musicians. A female vocal group from the Dong ethnic minority performs polyphonic music. Acclaimed virtuoso Zhao Jiazhen performs on the qin, widely regarded as the most important instrument of the dominant Han culture. Also, the renowned Ba Da Chui percussion quartet performs on instruments that play a central role in most Chinese traditional music.

This performance is sponsored by Roche.

Tickets: $32, $37
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Saturday, October 24 at 3:00 p.m.
The Performance Project @ University Settlement (184 Eldridge Street)
CARNEGIE HALL NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERT: BA DA CHUI
Ba Da Chui, Percussion Quartet
Hosted by Wu Man

This native Chinese percussion quartet, whose name means “eight great hammers,” promises a feast of sound.

Sponsored by Target

This Neighborhood Concert is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.

Tickets: Free (RSVP Required. Limit two per person. Call 212-453-4532.)
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Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Zankel Hall
ANCIENT SPIRITS
Wu Man, Curator and Host
Li Family Daoist Band
Zhang Family Band (Old Tune Traditional Music with Shadow Puppets)

Two Chinese ensembles present traditional music performed at village rituals, including temple fairs, weddings, funerals, and seasonal festivities. This music can be traced back millennia, and is still deeply rooted in the daily life of Chinese villagers today.

Presented by Carnegie Hall in partnership with the World Music Institute.

Tickets: $38, $46
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Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 25 at 7:30 p.m.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street)
CHINA FESTIVAL PARTNER EVENT: SHEN WEI DANCE ARTS AT 10
Shen Wei Dance Arts
Shen Wei, Artistic Director

Last year the world watched as Shen Wei’s modern dance took center stage at the 2008 Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympics in Beijing. This fall New York–based company Shen Wei Dance Arts launches its 10th anniversary season with a program that explores Shen Wei’s creative process through performance and discussion with the artist. A reception with the artists follows in the rotunda of the Guggenheim Museum.

Presented by Works & Process at the Guggenheim. For more information: worksandprocess.org

Tickets: $30 / $25 Guggenheim members / $10 students
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Sunday, October 25 at 3:00 p.m.
Henry Street Settlement, Abrons Arts Center (Playhouse, 466 Grand Street)
CARNEGIE HALL NEIGHBORHOOD CONCERT: ZHANG FAMILY BAND
Zhang Family Band (Old Tune Traditional Music with Shadow Puppets)

This native Chinese ensemble performs traditional music used in village rituals, including temple fairs, weddings, funerals, and seasonal festivities. Their inimitable music can be traced back to the Han Dynasty, and is still deeply rooted in the daily life of Chinese villagers today.

Sponsored by Target

This Neighborhood Concert is made possible, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts.

Presented by Carnegie Hall’s Weill Music Institute.

Tickets: Free (Seating is limited. Doors open at 2:30 p.m. For more information: 212-598-0400.)
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Sunday, October 25 at 7:00 p.m.
Asia Society (725 Park Avenue)
CHINA FESTIVAL PARTNER EVENT: CHINESE TEAHOUSE
Dong Female Singing Group
Zhao Jiazhen, Qin

A traditional Chinese teahouse presents the culture of music and tea together. Join us for an intimate meeting of the two at the Asia Society, featuring the wondrous women singers from the Dong minority group and Zhao Jiazhen performing on the qin.

Presented by Asia Society. For more information: 212-517-ASIA or tickets.asiasociety.org.

Tickets: $25 and $30
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Ancient Paths, Modern Voices: A Festival Celebrating Chinese Culture is made possible by a leadership gift from Henry R. Kravis in honor of his wife, Marie-Josée.

Sponsored, in part, by Deloitte LLP
Additional funding from Roche and China Merchants Bank

Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.