Chicago’s Chinese Fine Arts Society (CFAS) presents its Annual All Chinese Music Concert — the first CFAS concert featuring 2011-12 Artists in Residence, Duo Diorama (Violinist MingHuan Xu and Pianist Winston Choi). This eclectic concert showcases traditional and contemporary chamber music for piano, strings, woodwinds, marimba, erhu, and chorus, and includes works by internationally acclaimed composers Huang Ruo, Bright Sheng and Chen Yi and the US premieres of Julia Liu Composition Competition Winners “Dream of Hometown” by BoChan Li and “Prelude for Piano” by Chu Chin Yi.

The concert will take place on Sunday, April 17 at 3 p.m., Chicago Cultural Center’s Preston Bradley Hall, 78 E. Washington, Chicago, IL. Admission is free — visit www.chinesefinearts.org or www.chicagoculturalcenter.org for more information.

A preview of this concert will take place on LIVE FROM WFMT, 98.7FM, Chicago’s Classical Experience, on Monday, April 11th from 8-10pm.

PROGRAM INCLUDES:

• US Premiere – BoChan Li: Dream of Hometown for violin and piano (2008)

• Chicago Premiere – Bright Sheng: Hot Pepper for violin and marimba (2010)

• Huang Ruo: Divergence: Concerto No. 3 for Five Musicians (2001)

• Chu Chin Yi: Prelude for piano

• Chen Yi: Happy Rain on a Spring Night (2004)

• Liu Wen Jin: Three Gorges Dam Capriccio

• Works TBA by CFAS Chorus

Duo Diorama (CFAS Artists in Residence/Concert Curators) is comprised of two renowned soloists. Violinist MingHuan Xu performs extensively in recital and with orchestra in China and North America. She is also a highly sought-after chamber musician, having collaborated with the St. Petersburg Quartet, Colin Carr, Eugene Drucker, Ilya Kaler, and Ani Kavafian. Xu was a winner of the Beijing Young Artists Competition and gave her New York debut at age 18 as soloist with the New York Youth Symphony Orchestra. Currently on faculty at Loyola University Chicago, she plays on a 1758 Nicolas Gagliano violin. Pianist Winston Choi was Laureate of the 2003 Honens International Piano Competition (Canada) and winner of France’s 2002 Concours International de Piano 20e siècle d’Orléans. He regularly performs in recital and with orchestra throughout North America and Europe. Already a prolific recording artist, he can be heard on the Arktos, Crystal, l’Empreinte Digitale, Intrada and QuadroFrame labels. Formerly on the faculties of the Oberlin Conservatory and Bowling Green University, he is Assistant Professor and Head of Piano at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Additional musicians will include:
Katherine Jui Chang, piano
Winston Choi, piano (Duo Diorama)
Yuchi Chou, conductor of Huang Ruo’s composition
Robert Dillon, percussion (from the Third Coast Percussion)
Haysun Kang, piano (Head of Piano Program, Loyola University)
Cheng-Hou Lee, cello (cellist in the Avalon String Quartet)
Sang Mee Lee, violin (violinist in the Beethoven Project Trio)
Alexander Li, erhu
Melissa Snoza, flute (flutist from the Fifth House Ensemble)
Jennifer Woodrum, clarinet (clarinetist from the Fifth House Ensemble)
Masahito Sugihara, saxophone (Chicago Reed Quartet)
MingHuan Xu, violin (Duo Diorama)
And the CFAS Chorus (Lori Ho, conductor; Wen-Ming Leung, piano)

For 27 years,  the Chinese Fine Arts Society, a professional, small, fully-independent arts organization has brought together people from diverse backgrounds over a common goal: to celebrate the beauty and majesty of traditional and contemporary Chinese music and art. CFAS is dedicated to promoting the appreciation of Chinese culture, enhancing cultural exchange and pursuing excellence in Chinese music, dance and visual arts.

Funding for this concert is provided, in part, by the Illinois Arts Council, City Arts Grants, and the Arts Work Fund, an initiative of the Chicago Community Trust and Affiliates.

“A little bluegrass, a little rock-n-roll, a little scat, a turn at tango. How does “Galactic Diamonds” offer such a genre-bending sound? – try the diversity of the players!” - Aural States Review

New York City’s Steve Hudson Chamber Ensemble (www.steve-hudson.com), led by composer Steve Hudson – piano/melodica, and featuring Zach Brock – violin, Jean-Philippe Feiss – cello, and Michele Rabbia – percussion, plays venues in Italy and Austria as part of their Spring 2011 European tour. The group, who got its start performing in New York clubs in early 2008, performs original works rooted in jazz, classical, tango, and rock.

TOUR SCHEDULE:

March 12, 9:15 and 11:15pm @ Al Vapore (Via Fratelli Bandiera 9, Marghera, Venezia, Italy)
Tel: 041 93 07 96, Tickets 12-15 euro

March 13, 10pm @ La Chiesa Grande di Bussana Vecchia di San Remo

March 14, 10pm @ Apriti Sesamo (Via Alla Chiesa, Bussana Vecchia di San Remo, Italy)
Tel: 0184/510022; 335/231794

March 17, 8pm @ Sargfabrik (Goldschlagstraße 169, 1140 Vienna, Austria)
Tel: 01 98898121, Tickets 18 Euro

March 18, 8pm @ Circolo Masetti Ex-Novo (Via Resia, 27  39100 Bolzano, Italy)
Tickets 10 Euro

March 19, 9pm @ Firenze Jazz Club (Via Nuova de’ Caccini, 3 – Firenze, Italy)
Tel: 0552479700 | 3356146115

Praised by Keyboard Magazine for his “exquisite compositions” and for “a quest for beauty in his lines that evoke the masters,” Steve Hudson has worked with Steven Bernstein, James Zollar, Marcus Rojas, and Claire Daly. Zach Brock has performed and recorded with Stanley Clarke, Joel Harrison, and the Mahavishnu Orchestra, while Cellist Jean-Philippe Feiss studied classical music at conservatory of Boulogne-Billancourt in France with Xavier Gagne, and has played with Emmanuel Bex, Louis Sclavis, and Ellery Eskelin. Michele Rabbia is one of the premiere drummer/percussionists in Italy and has recorded extensively for ECM and with many of Europe’s leading artists. The ensemble was recently selected to perform at Chamber Music America’s 2011 national conference, and are currently on tour to promote the CD “Galactic Diamonds,” available at www.cdbaby.com.

Steve Hudson is a pianist and composer based in New York City whose compositions and piano style embrace the history of jazz, blues, folk, and modern classical music, all with a free spirited love of improvisation. In addition to his work with the chamber ensemble, he is cofounder of the Outer Bridge Ensemble. His jazz sextet recorded the album “Shine” which featured Curtis Fowlkes, James Zollar, Marcus Rojas, Claire Daly, vocalist Peter Eldridge and other New York artists. In May 2011, Steve and saxophonist Claire Daly will premier an extended suite at the Juneau Jazz Festival dedicated to the Alaskan explorer Mary Joyce.

Composer Laura Koplewitz

New Music Ensemble Lunatics at Large presents a preview performance and discussion of their upcoming series of World Premiere concerts entitled “The Sanctuary Project” – followed by a reception & silent auction of poetry books and CDs. The discussion will include composers Laura Koplewitz and Alex Shapiro as well as poets David Shapiro and Yerra Sugarman. This free event will take place on Monday, March 7th 2011 at 7:30pm at WMP Concert Hall, 31 East 28th Street, New York, NY. RSVP: jundtevi@yahoo.com or by phone (917)518-6853.

Yerra Sugarman, Photo by Bernard Gotfryd

The Sanctuary Project (further information here) features an exciting selection of established and emerging poets and composers who have been commissioned by the New York City based new music ensemble Lunatics at Large to write works on the theme of “sanctuary.” The premiere concert of these five works will occur on Monday, March 21, 2011 at 8:00pm at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, 57th Street and Seventh Avenue in New York City. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at www.carnegiehall.org or by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800. $10 student and senior tickets are available at the box office with a valid ID. Subsequent performances of The Sanctuary Project will happen in actual sanctuaries at Christ and Saint Stephen’s Church, 122 West 69th Street, New York City (April 8, 8pm) and at the Synagogue for the Arts, 49 White Street, New York City (April 10, 7pm), and at WMP Concert Hall , 31 East 28th Street, New York (April 21, 7:30pm). Tickets for all April performances are $20 for adults and $10 for students and seniors.

Congratulations to Threefifty Duo for being selected to perform at the Classical Crossover Showcase (complete schedule here) at the famed South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in Austin, Texas. For the second year, the Drapkin Institute for Music Entrepreneurship presents the Classical Crossover Showcase at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Music Festival in Austin, Texas. Following on their sold-out debut showcase in 2010, this showcase presents six of the finest bands from around the country, featuring classically trained musicians that have crossed over to the mainstream, and brought their amazing virtuosity with them. These musicians have been leaders in their fields, with professional experiences ranging from the Chicago Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, educations at top schools like Eastman and Juilliard, from New York to Tehran, and even the best rockin’ solo bass clarinetist in the United States! The showcase will be held Friday, March 18, 2011, from 8pm until 3am at St. David’s Bethel Hall, 301 E 8th St. Austin, Texas.

Threefifty Duo has been described as a “classical guitar duo with a rock edge,” as musicians Brett Parnell and Geremy Schulick seamlessly weave their contemporary rock sensibilities into the rich fabric of classical guitar. After years of writing and performing together and with a second album under Threefifty’s belt, the duo’s stylistic tendencies have further expanded, with genre blurred by an intensely personal sound that is rhythmic, infectious, engaging, and at once both new and accessible.. Young guitarists Schulick and Parnell write instrumental music for two guitars that encompasses a wide variety of influences from Bach to Steve Reich to Leo Kottke to Radiohead. They’ve performed across the US and overseas at a broad array of venues, universities and festivals, and most recently they played as part of CMEAS’ Autumn UK Tour from September 23-October 1st and the Lancaster Music Festival on October 9th and 10th.

Peter McDowell and Ari Salomon will offer the free workshop “WordPress Web sites for Performing and Visual Artists” at the 2011 Creative Chicago Expo held at the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington.

Using dynamic discussion and visual examples, this workshop for Creative Chicago Expo 2011 will go through the basics of establishing a strong online presence for performing and visual artists with a focus on:

• Branding: Simple logo vs Complete visual identity (logotype, logomark, business card and other matching print collateral)
• Content Management System (CMS): How it can empower the delivery of constantly changing information to key audiences
• The differences between WordPress.org (requiring a web developer) and WordPress.com (free do-it-yourself) sites.
• Building a strong platform for online marketing: SEO (Search Engine Optimization), SEM (search Engine Marketing) and social networking efforts to drive traffic
• How a web site fits into a larger marketing effort
• Costs and timelines: getting your content together before you approach a designer
• Time management: “Don’t be a programmer, be the best artist you can be.”

Peter McDowell and Ari Salomon believe in the necessity of access to effective, attractive, functional web sites for performing and visual artists. McDowell (a veteran of 20 years experience in arts management) and Salomon (a web designer and developer for 15 years) have teamed up since 2009 seeking to provide a low-cost, high quality option in web marketing for artists by creating over a dozen web sites for artists and by training them how to update and maintain their new sites. Their upcoming venture, PerformSites, will launch in Spring 2011.