2016 Pan-Asian Music Festival

Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra

Join us as we celebrate classical music from across the Asian continent!

Buy your tickets through the Stanford Live ticket office today!

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Friday, February 19, 12:30 - 2:00 pm: FILM SCREENING AND DISCUSSION 

This film offers extraordinary insight into the persistence of traditional Japanese cultural practice among Japanese Americans interned during World War II. After the screening, meet filmmaker and creative director, Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto-Wong. There will also be Japanese internment camp survivors who will speak about their experience with music in the camps. 
Levinthal Hall, Stanford Humanities Center
Free and open to the public.  No tickets required.  RSVP here
 

Friday, February 19, 7:30 pm: CELEBRATION OF ASIA CONCERT

Join us as we take a tour across the Asian continent with local masters of music from Iran, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Japan. They are joined by the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra from China for an incredible collaborative finale.
Bing Concert Hall
TICKETS: $30 General, $20 Students, $10 Stanford students w/ SUID (Reserved Seating)
 

Satruday, February 20, 2:30 pm: SOUNDS OF MUSIC FROM ASIA FAMILY CONCERT

Children of all ages are welcome at this family concert, featuring musical masters from across Asia! This is an interactive concert that will introduce children to unique Asian music and instruments. TICKETS: General $10, 20% discount for Bing Nursery School families (General Admission Seating)
Bing Concert Hall
TICKETS: $10 general admission
 

Saturday, February 20, 7:30 pm: CHINESE NEW YEAR CONCERT

The Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra, the Stanford Chinese Music Ensemble, and the California Youth Chinese Symphony join together in a joyful celebration of the Chinese New Year.
Bing Concert Hall
TICKETS: $30 General, $20 Students, $10 Stanford students w/ SUID (Reserved Seating)
 

PERFORMERS

The festival will feature the first-ever Bay Area performance by the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra from Beijing. The world-renowned ensemble was created by some of the greatest masters of traditional Chinese music. The orchestra will showcase both traditional classics as well as adventurous new works, and will perform at all three programs. This will include a special appearance at the beginning of the festival for an exclusive collaboration with top Bay Area musicians from other Asian countries including Azerbaijan, Iran, Japan, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. During their stay, ensemble members will also give master classes to students in the Stanford Chinese Music Ensemble.
 
Other notable artists featured in the festival include:
 
 
Pezhham Akhavass, an Iranian percussionist and master of Tombak, Global Director of the San Francisco World Music Festival for Iran
 
Imamyar Hassanov, Azerbaijani-American kamancha virtuoso and Global Director of the San Francisco World Music Festival for Azerbaijan
 
Abbos Kosimov, internationally-acclaimed Uzbeki percussionist and doya specialist
 
Vân-Ánh Võ, an Emmy award-winning Vietnamese folk musician
 
Shirley Kazuyo Muramoto-Wong, renowned Japanese-American Koto master and filmmaker
 
Brian Mitsuhiro Wong, a Japanses and Chinese-American koto player and winner of Sawai Soukyokuin Koto Conservatory's "Grand Prix" award
 
Shoko Hikage, Japanese koto player extraordinaire and member of the Natto Quartet
 
Karl Young, an expert in shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute
 
Reiko Iwanaga, an odori performer and community arts advocate, she is lead choreographer and instructor of the San Jose Obon Odori, and Executive Director of the Contemporary Asian Theater Scene in San Jose 
 
Stanford Chinese Music Ensemble
 
California Youth Chinese Symphony
 
"We are fortunate to live in the Bay Area where we have such diverse cultures and are able to experience all different kinds of music and arts from around the world, especially Asia,” says Professor Jindong Cai of Stanford's Center for East Asian Studies, who is the festival’s founder and artistic director. “We are delighted to be able to showcase this cultural dynamism and diversity in the festival."