Burnaby performers are front and centre at a festival celebrating Chinese music this weekend.
The second Sound of Dragon Music Festival runs until April 24 at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre in Vancouver.
It features music from Vancouver’s Chinese music community, alongside special guests from Taiwan. The program includes diverse music with Chinese roots and influences – from traditional and classical to contemporary, jazz, world, fusion and experimental music.
Burnaby performers in the festival include Charlie Lui of the Sound of Dragon Ensemble, Sungyong Lim on cello with the Borealis String Quartet, Jun Rong of the
Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra and Qiu Xia He and Andre Thibault of Silk Road Music.
The festival is all about fusion. The Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra’s opening concert on Friday night features Canadian compositions, with soloists on Asian instruments under the baton of Taiwanese guest conductor Chih Sheng Chen. They will be joined by the Borealis String Quartet, which will offer up Asian compositions on Western string instruments.
Silk Road Music, which includes He on pipa and Thibault on guitar, will be joined by Liam MacDonald on Brazilian tambourine and Ron Hadley on jazz piano. They are slated to be part of a series of performers on Saturday afternoon.
Other performances throughout the weekend will include a collaboration of Chinese music and flamenco dance, and traditional Chinese music from the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra in Taiwan.
For a full schedule of events and more information about the festival, see www.soundofdragon.com/festival/2016/.
Tickets are available at www.soundofdragon2016.brownpapertickets.com.
