Suzhou Chinese Orchestra to kick off 2022-23 music season

The Suzhou Chinese Orchestra announced on July 29 that it is scheduled to stage 157 concerts, lectures, and art performances in its 2022-23 music season, local media outlets reported.

The season, which will span from this September to next July, will see senior performers and promising young artists stage a number of works spanning from classics to original pieces.

Original Chinese orchestral works created by renowned composers will be a highlight of the season, including Jiangnan, a Chinese symphony suite created by Xu Changjun, dean of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music, that depicts the history, culture and modern development of Jiangnan, or regions south of the Yangtze River.

In the new season, the orchestra will hold a series of large- and medium-sized concerts focusing on ethnic cultures, such as a performance integrating ethnic Chinese orchestra with chime bells, an instrument that has been dubbed "the eighth wonder of the ancient world", and Genghis Khan, which combines Mongolian musical elements such as horse-head string instruments, long tune, and khoomei, or hooliin chor (throat harmony), a style of singing in which a single performer produces a diversified harmony of multiple voice parts.

The orchestra will perform excellent works nationwide and hold seven music tours in Taiwan for cross-Straits cultural exchanges. A series of online concerts for both international and domestic audiences will also be held to further tell the story of Suzhou and China to the world.

The day also saw a performance of Ode to Rivers, Lakes and Seas to conclude the 2021-2022 music season, which featured a number of renowned names, including Peng Jiapeng, artistic director and chief conductor of the Suzhou Chinese Orchestra, Kunqu Opera artist Wang Fang, Peking Opera artist Li Weiqun,guzheng (a 21-or 25-stringed plucked instrument) player Miao Qing, and young singers Han Peng, Zhao Lili, and Zhou Lei.

The orchestra is also planning to bring more classic musical performances to campuses, residential communities, enterprises, and military troops.

The Suzhou Chinese Orchestra was jointly established by the governments of Suzhou and Suzhou New District in 2017. It has since developed a strong reputation.