Under the baton of Music Director/Conductor Kirk Muspratt, New Philharmonic, the professional orchestra in residence at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), caps its 2024-2025 season with concerts featuring works tied together with a common theme of destiny at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 13. The program for each concert features Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4 in F Minor and “Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto” by He Zhanhao and Chen Gang. Award-winning violinist Yang Liu will be showcased in the latter. A free MAC Chat will precede each concert one hour prior to performance.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (1840 – 1893) is one of the most prominent Russian composers of all time. His Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36 debuted in 1878. It has been described as an intensely emotional journey, and at times a battle with destiny, inspired by a tumultuous time in Tchaikovsky’s life and his relationships with two women: his wife and a benefactress he never met in person. It is considered one of the most beloved symphonies of all time and believed to have been one of his favorites.
“Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto” is an orchestral adaptation based on a Chinese legend that tells the story of two lovers, who are separated by destiny but not able to be separated by death as they are transformed into two magnificent butterflies. “Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto” premiered at the Shanghai Music and Dance Festival in May 1959 as part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary year of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The concerto was subsequently banned during the Cultural Revolution, as fellow composers and political figures associated the folktale with anti-Communist themes that exalted the bourgeoisie. In 1978, the piece resurfaced at the Shanghai Spring festival, signaling a larger revival of the piece in China and beyond. Today, the concerto is widely referred to in China as "our symphony."
He Zhanhao (b.1933 - ) has been known as a composer, conductor and a professor at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. He was a director of the Chinese Musicians’ Association for several terms, and Vice President of the Shanghai Musicians’ Association. He has served as a jurist of the China Gold Record Awards and as Head of the Guzheng Professional Appraisal Committee of the Golden Bell Awards. Throughout his career he has continued to search ways to add a Chinese nuance to foreign musical forms and introduce modern features to Chinese traditional music. In 2023, he conducted “Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto” with members of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 2023 at the age of 90 years old.
Chen Gang (b.1935 - ) has composed and recomposed many classics in China, including the “Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto,” “Miaolin's Morning” and “The Golden Steel Smelting Furnace.” In 2017, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Chinese Golden Bell for Music.
Guest violinist Yang Liu’s (b. 1976 -) playing has been praised as “a scorching performance” by The New York Times and “dazzling talent!” by Washington Post. Honors and awards include being named the prize winner of the Twelfth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, first prize winner of the American Prize in String Performance in 2023, first prize in the 2022 Medici International Competition, first prize in the 2021 International Artists Award Competition, and first prize in China’s 5th National Competition. He has performed as a soloist with world-leading orchestras including the Cincinnati Symphony orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Danish Royal Odense Philharmonic to name a few. Born in QingDao, China, Yang studied in Central Conservatory with Professor Yaoji Lin in Beijing China and at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati with Professor Kurt Sassmannshaus and Dorothy Delay. Under the extraordinary ability immigration program, Liu became an American citizen in 2014. He plays a highly prized Guarneri 1741 violin, on loan from the Stradivari Society and the Bein & Fushi Rare Violi.
Tickets
New Philharmonic performs Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony and Butterfly Lovers Concerto at the McAninch Arts Center, 425 Fawell Blvd., on the campus of College of DuPage, 7:30 p.m. Saturday, April 12 and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 13. Tickets are $57. For tickets visit www.AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000. The McAninch Box Office is open Tuesday – Saturday, noon – 6 p.m. and two hours prior to performance.
A free MAC Chat will precede each concert one hour prior to performance.
Media sponsor for these concerts is 90.9 FM WDCB Public Radio.
About New Philharmonic
New Philharmonic, the only professional orchestra based in DuPage County, Ill., has inspired classical music enthusiasts in Chicago and the suburbs for more than four decades. New Philharmonic was recently honored with the Illinois Council of Orchestras’ 2020 ICO Award in the category Programming of the Year. It continues to thrive with the goal of giving innovative treatment to both classic compositions and modern works while striving to make the music accessible to new audiences and youth through a variety of educational efforts. Today, under the direction of Music Director/Conductor Kirk Muspratt, named 2018 Conductor of the Year (Professional Orchestra) by Illinois Council of Orchestras, New Philharmonic consists of more than 60 professional musicians and typically performs more than a dozen concerts a year, reaching more than 7,500 from the greater Chicago area annually.
Season support for New Philharmonic is provided in part by the DuPage Foundation, a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Brookdale Glen Ellyn; Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, Frank Modruson and Lynne Shigley, Anonymous, 90.9 FM WDCB Public Radio and the College of DuPage Foundation.
About the MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and a versatile black box Studio Theatre), outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season.
The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit www.AtTheMAC.org or @AtTheMAC on Facebook and Instagram.
Support for the McAninch Arts Center is provided in part by Brookdale Senior Living Glen Ellyn, Anonymous, College of DuPage Foundation, Sullivan Taylor Family Trust, DuPage Foundation, Ball Horticultural, Frank Modruson & Lynne Shigley, Enjoy Illinois, Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. Media Sponsor is WDCB 90.9 FM, Hotel Sponsor is DoubleTree by Hilton Lisle/Naperville.
Established as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation, visit www.foundation.cod.edu or call 630.942.2462.