The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) celebrates the Lunar New Year and the coming of the Year of the Horse with a concert that blends musical traditions and community joy. The TSO presents Year of the Horse: A Lunar New Year Celebration on February 28 at Roy Thomson Hall.
The orchestra will be led by conductor Carolyn Kuan, with comedian Dashan (Mark Rowswell) returning as host and narrator. Acclaimed soloists will add to the performance, including renowned pipa virtuoso Wu Man, and 15-year-old piano prodigy Ryan Huang, who is a Lang Lang International Music Foundation Young Scholar. Yang Yang Dance Studio will also take the stage.
Before the concert begins, from 6:30 p.m., the Roy Thomson Hall lobby lights up with a lively lion dance performance, along with a curated Asian artisan market, and family-friendly activities.
Conductor Carolyn Kuan
Carolyn Kuan was born in Taipei, and began playing piano as a child. She also sang in choirs, and developed the ambition to become an opera singer. At the age of 14, she immigrated to the US alone to study, and eventually graduated cum laude from Smith College with a degree in economics and music. She continued music studies at the University of Illinois, earning a Master of Music degree, followed by an artist diploma at the Peabody Conservatory.
Along the way, her interest in conducting grew, and in 2003, she was the first woman to be awarded the Herbert von Karajan Conducting Fellowship, which resulted in a residency at the 2004 Salzburg Festival. She also worked as a conducting assistant to Marin Alsop in 2003. She became the assistant conductor of the Seattle Symphony in 2006, and subsequently took on the role of associate conductor.
She was named music director of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in 2011, and still holds that position. Carolyn has also led orchestras across the globe, including the Baltimore Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Toronto Symphony, along with the New York City Ballet, the Florida Orchestra, Louisville Orchestra, the Bournemouth Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan, Singapore Symphony, Residentie Orkest, and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo, among others.
She is a recognized specialist in Asian contemporary music, and led the San Francisco Symphony’s annual Chinese New Year concert for several years.
The Music
The program includes a selection of works from Western and Chinese classical traditions, including celebratory favourites of the season, music by Canadian composer Vivian Fung, and the world première of 蜀道難 Shu Dao Nan (The Way to Shu is Treacherous) by composer Alison Yun Fei Jiang — a former TSO RBC Affiliate Composer.
The full program:
- Li Huanzhi: Spring Festival Overture
- Vivian Fung: Pizzicato
- Zhao Jiping: Concerto No. 2
- Chen Gexin: Gōngxǐ Gōngxǐ (恭喜恭喜)
- Huang Ruo: Folk Songs
- Grieg: Piano Concerto A Minor, Op.16–Mvt. I, Ryan Huang, piano
- Alison Yun Fei Jiang: 蜀道難 Shu Dao Nan (The Way to Shu is Treacherous) World Première
- Liu Tieshan (刘铁山) & Mao Yuan (茅沅): Dance of Yao People
Event Details
Along with the concert, there is an exclusive pre-concert cocktail reception and dinner at the Shangri-La Hotel, Toronto, beginning at 4:30 p.m. Guests will have the opportunity to meet and mingle with artists Wu Man and Dashan, enjoy entertainment and a multi-course sit-down dinner.
After dinner, they will then be escorted by a musical walk (or luxury van) to Roy Thomson Hall. Proceeds from the TSO’s Lunar New Year Celebration pre-concert dinner support the orchestra’s expansive community engagement and education activities. Find out more here.
- Find details and tickets for Year of the Horse: A Lunar New Year Celebration [HERE].
Are you looking to promote an event? Have a news tip? Need to know the best events happening this weekend? Send us a note.
#LUDWIGVAN
Get the daily arts news straight to your inbox.