A joyous celebration of Chinese culture will take place at the Lord Kitchener Auditorium at Napa on June 20 to mark the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and T&T.Local and Chinese artistes will entertain the audience with the best of Eastern and Western music, dance, acrobatics and martial arts, a release said.The programme will feature multi-talented musician Ke Coco Chen. Chen has performed internationally as a professional collaborative pianist, soprano, composer and actress and is also in great demand as a vocal coach and collaborative pianist because of her experience as a vocalist. She debuted at Carnegie Hall's Weill Hall as a collaborative pianist in 2008 and won the bronze prize in the Chinese International Voice competition in the same year. She was the winner of the second Asia piano competition and the first Nanjing cup piano competition.
As a singer, her vocal appearances include solo soprano in The Messiah, Magnificat, Christmas Oratorio, Troi Chansons de Charles d'Orleans, as well as roles in The Secret Garden (Lily) and Cos� fan tutte (Despina). After receiving her bachelor's degree in both voice and piano from Eastman School of Music, she attained a master's degree in Piano Accompanying at Manhattan School of Music under the tutelage on John Forconi and is currently a vocal coach at Manhattan School of Music in New York.Direct from China, the Tianjin Art Ensemble will showcase the embodiment of Chinese culture through displays of martial arts, acrobatics, traditional Chinese musical instruments and dances. The troupe is comprised of experienced young actors who have performed in many countries throughout Asia, Europe and Africa.Tianjin will perform innovative folk music which combines elements of traditional Chinese folk music with modern musical elements to create new folk music with a strong modern sense. Also highlighted will be Chinese traditional skill-acrobatics including Ballet on Shoulder which has been performed in many international contests, and the award-winning handplants which has grown in popularity in China and abroad.
Joining these visiting performers will be local soprano Natalia Dopwell, and dancers Zaidee Walker, Juan Pablo Alba, Jilla Cato and Anya Reyes of Kith & Kin Productions will perform choreography by Carol LaChapelle for the Dal Ailian Foundation.East Meets West is a presentation of the Chinese Embassy sponsored by the Shanghai Construction Group in collaboration with the Classical Music Development Foundation sponsored by the National Gas Company of T&T Ltd with the kind cooperation of the Ministry of the Arts & Multiculturalism.
East Meets West takes place on June 20 at 7 pm.
Tickets priced at $200 (cash only) are available at the Napa Box Office from 11 am - 6 pm.
For information call 623-2375 ext 257.