MORE ABOUT WEDNESDAY'S VIRTUAL PERFORMANCE:
Gao Ping is one of today’s most prominent international composer-pianists. During the COVID-19 lockdown in China, he composed "Bitter Cold Night" for violin and piano, a touching piece in memory of Dr. Li Wenliang, the now-famous 34-year-old doctor who sent out an early warning about the virus on social media. Dr. Li was called in by Chinese officials and forced to denounce his warning as a rumor. Not long after, he became one of the first fatalities due to the Coronavirus. Gao Ping chose Frederic Chiu, who has recently recorded a CD of his music, to premiere Bitter Cold Night. Frederic is set to perform the piece this Wednesday with his brother, Cornelius Chiu, a long-time violinist in the Chicago Symphony. In fitting symbolism, the musical brothers overcame the challenges playing together while social distancing by creating a unique “Live plus Virtual Reality” performance that involved several exchanges of recordings to refine their interpretation.
The performance airs this Wednesday, April 15 during Beechwood Arts and Innovation’s Facebook LIVE event “Global Embrace” from 6-7pm EST on Beechwood’s FB Page link. Beechwood is an arts non-profit that focuses on all-arts collaboration and community connection through innovation. Frederic will also play other music, including other Gao Ping pieces.
Also in the Global Embrace program...
A Global Movement! A special guest will be an 18-year-old cellist who was the driving force behind the internationally viral music project that unites 24 young cellists from around the globe, working in collaboration to bring to life one of the most beloved pieces in Classical Music, Saint-Saëns’ The Swan. Bring tissues to this viewing! (There is a surprise coincidence around his identity – so tune in!)
Globally Influenced Gifts Of ART: A discussion with a group of artists and a showcasing some of the many gifts of art that Beechwood has received from artists with backgrounds from a wide diversity of cultures and nations including Russia, Turkey, Taiwan, Colombia, and elsewhere!
MORE ABOUT GAO PING:
Gao Ping is a composer-pianist, born in Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China. He studied in the USA in the 1990s. In demand as a composer, he has received commissions and performances from musicians around the world. The Beijing-based musicologist Li Xi’an has referred to Gao Ping as a leading member of the “sixth generation” of Chinese composers after the “fifth generation” of composers such as Tan Dun and Qu Xiaosong.
While completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, Gao Ping won the 2003 Auros Composition Prize (Boston) and was resident at the MacDowell Colony for Artists. Gao is currently a Professor in Composition at the Conservatory of Music-Capital Normal University as well as a guest professor at the China Conservatory of Music. He previously taught at Canterbury University and Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music.
Frederic Chiu performs at major venues on five continents, and also tours extensively in smaller and unusual venues. He collaborates with Classical music friends Joshua Bell, Pierre Amoyal and the St Lawrence String Quartet, as well as non-Classical friends like jazz pianist Bob James or storyteller David Gonzalez, to bring vivid live piano experiences to all audiences.
Frederic Chiu has recorded the most extensive complete piano works of Prokofiev, and his personal relationship with the Prokofiev family has made him a world-recognized advocate of the composer. Across 30 albums, he has recorded works of Chopin, Liszt, Ravel, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Rossini and Grieg, and most recently the Beethoven/Liszt Symphonies V and VII. “Hymns and Dervishes,” music of Gurdjieff/de Hartmann, “Distant Voices: Music of Claude Debussy & Gao Ping,” and Schubert’s Fantasy for Violin and Piano demonstrate his wide legacy in recording.
With his wife, Jeanine Esposito, he co-created the arts non-profit, Beechwood Arts & Innovation, to explore collaboration across art genres and the use of the arts and technology to create community. Frederic teaches at both Carnegie Mellon University and The Hartt School.
About Beechwood Arts & Innovation: Beechwood Arts & Innovation’s mission is to expand the way the arts are created and experienced. The 501(c)3 not-for-profit curates "all-arts" immersions that cross genres, disciplines and generations and hosts innovative arts workshops and collaborations. Run by husband/wife team Jeanine Esposito and Frederic Chiu, over the past 9 years, they have created and presented more than 100 unique events that bring together music, visual arts, film, performance and culinary arts, and inspire community conversation.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Beechwood Arts & Innovation is presenting a weekly series of online broadcasts that address thematic topics relevant to current times, through the arts and community conversation, called The WE Events.
LINKS FOR FREDERIC CHIU:
Frederic’s Chopin Goes Viral! 12 million views! Have you heard it yet? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KrVRUHJ21g
facebook: Frederic Chiu and Deeper Performance Studies
Faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University and The Hartt School