Chicago Sinfonietta – West Meets East on October 4th

Erhu Solist Betti Xiang

The Chicago Sinfonietta is offering visitors of this web site a 30% discount to attend their opening concert of the season – West Meets East on October 4 at 2:30pm.

The nation’s most diverse symphony orchestra, The Chicago Sinfonietta, proudly marks the start of its 23rd season with West Meets East. Guest conductor Maestro Mei-Ann Chen, currently Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, shares the podium with Maestro Paul Freeman as the romantic impressionism of Europe meets the striking music of Asia. Joined by the young Chicago piano virtuoso Jeremy Jordan and Chicago Erhu soloist Betti Xiang.

Guest conductor Mei-Ann Chen, a native of Taiwan, is one of America’s most exciting and promising young conductors. She was the first woman to win the Malko international conductors Competition in 2005. Having recently concluded a highly successful tenure as Assistant Conductor of the Atlanta Symphony, she has accepted a one-year appointment as Assistant Conductor of the Baltimore Symphony, beginning in the fall of 2009.

Jeremy Jordan is a twenty-year-old junior at the Juilliard School. After winning the Steinway Piano Concerto Competition at the age of 15, Jordan made his orchestral debut in May 2006 with the Ars Viva Symphony Orchestra. Jordan first performed with the Chicago Sinfonietta in 2007 at the age of 17. He has received gold medals at numerous competitions; and is a recipient of the National Achievement Award, National Merit Award, and Commended Student Award of the National Merit Program.

Erhu Virtuoso Betti Xiang was born in Shanghai, China where her father, Xiang Zuying, a renowned Erhu master, first introduced her to the Erhu. After she moved to Chicago, Xiang has performed with Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble, Lincoln String Quartet, Amelia Piano Trio, Early Music Mixed Ensemble, and CUBE Ensemble. She also performed at New York’s Lincoln Center, the Kimmel Center and the Smithsonian Institute and Millennium Park.

The Chicago Sinfonietta will present this program on Sunday, October 4, 2009, at 2:30 p.m., at Lund Auditorium, Dominican University, 7900 West Division Street in River Forest, and Monday, October 5, 2009, at 7:30 p.m. at Orchestra Hall, Symphony Center, 220 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago.