Music

Singer-songwriter Eric 'Ol' Buck' Allen brings the soulful sounds of America's heartland to the Beijing stage. In the spirit of classic folk, cowboy / outlaw country, and southern blues, Eric Allen played to audiences in New York's Greenwich Village for years. Now he spreads the soul by performing songs throughout Beijing in the traditions of Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, and classic blues legends such as Robert Johnson, Lightnin' Slim, and Brownie McGhee. He’s joined by sitar and folk musician Rudra’s Sage (Raymond) for this Friday night concert at Mogu Space.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: https://www.showstart.com/event/46709

Since ancient times, the ability to play the guqin, a plucked seven string instrument from the zither family, has been a mark of great refinement. Celebrate the life of a master of the guqin, Chen Gongliang, at this special concert at the Forbidden City Concert Hall.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: https://www.douban.com/event/29600862/

Rockers Theory of Relativity appear at Yue Space for an unplugged concert of their new album Leave My Love Behind. They’re crossing China with these acoustic sets, believing it represents the highest level of musical skill and brings the audience right into their new album.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/wZ9tkfir0B9KwhyqkO4loQ

For more than 30 years, Grammy® Award-winning saxophonist, arranger, composer, and bandleader Garrett has garnered critical recognition for his versatility in jazz, blues, and R&B contexts. The Detroit native began his career performing with the Duke Ellington Orchestra and Mel Lewis Orchestra. In the early 1980s, Garrett began working with Miles Davis, becoming a member of Davis’ working group – a collaboration that lasted for five years.

With more than twenty recordings as a leader as well as appearing on more than 230 as a sideman, Garrett has performed and recorded with a multitude of musical icons, including Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Q-tip, among others. Garrett maintains a prolific touring and recording schedule with his own band as well as the world’s most acclaimed jazz legends. See him live at Blue Note Beijing March 9th and 10th.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: https://www.showstart.com/event/46210

Composer, producer and keyboardist Jeff Lorber recently won his first Grammy after six nominations. He’s a master of funky smooth jazz, and he appears at Blue Note with his band, the Jeff Lorber Fusion, and China’s hottest sax player, Wilson Chen.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: https://www.showstart.com/event/46372

The jazz ensemble X8 was formed in Vienna, Austria, and is made up of 8 music students who studied at Europe’s great classical conservatories. They’re now back in Beijing to delight your ears with their original jazz inventions. Catch them at Jianghu on March 3rd.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: https://www.showstart.com/event/46719

The Austrian Eggner Trio is one of the most recognised and well-known of today's leading piano trios. Founded in 1997 by three brothers - Georg (violin), Florian (cello), and Christoph (piano) – the trio regularly performs in such distinguished venues as Wigmore Hall in London and the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam. See them at the NCPA playing a programme of Schubert and Beethoven on March 15th.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: http://en.chncpa.org/whatson/zdyc/201711/t20171124_179558.shtml

Gaetano Donizetti is one of the representative masters of Italian operatic style in the first half of the 19th century, along with Rossini and Bellini, considered the three giants of bel canto. La Fille du Régiment is the third produced by the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) after Donizetti’s L’elisir d’Amore and Don Pasquale.

La Fille du Régiment (The Daughter of the Regiment) is an opera in two acts. The first tells the life of the female protagonist Marie in the army, and the second, her life in a castle. The opera premiered on February 11th, 1840 at the Paris Opera, but its first performance in Italy on October 3rd, 1840 received harsh reviews and wasn’t taken seriously. Not until 1928 did the opera receive its due accolades with the Italian soprano, Toti Dal Monte, in the role of Marie. The storyline is light-hearted, humorous in tone, and accessible to popular audiences. The music is richly-expressive, the male and female lead vocal elements each having their own unique styles. The aria “Ah! Mes amis, quel jour de fête!” dubbed “dangerous ground” for tenors, demands a full nine successive high Cs within two minutes, leaving many tenors daunted by the task. It was in fact Pavarotti’s role in this very opera that had earned him the title, “King of the High C.”

For more information or to buy tickets to the performance, visit: http://en.chncpa.org/whatson/zdyc/201712/t20171206_180149.shtml

Alexander Sladkovsky is reputed as an aristocrat in the new generation of Russian conductors. He appears at the NCPA to conduct Mikhail Pletnev, a pianist, conductor and composer, and the Russian National Orchestra in a programme that includes works by Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: http://en.chncpa.org/whatson/zdyc/201801/t20180125_181982.shtml

“Opera’s coolest soprano” Danielle de Niese takes the stage at the NCPA with the Lucerne Festival Springs for an upbeat, wide-ranging programme that gets in everything from selections from Mozart’s Don Gionvanni to I Feel Pretty from Bernstein’s West Side Story.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit: http://en.chncpa.org/whatson/zdyc/201801/t20180124_181931.shtml