WQXR Celebrates Chinese New Year with
“China in New York: A WQXR Festival”
January 23 – 29
An Exploration of China’s Rising Classical Music Scene
With LANG LANG, HUANG RUO, TAN DUN, among others
In Partnership with the New York Philharmonic, Queens Council on the Arts and Crossing Art
(January X, 2012 - New York, NY) – As China grapples with its relationship with Western culture, one Western art form is booming: classical music of the European canon. Approximately 50 million children study classical instruments, new concert halls have appeared in major cities and provinces, and an increasing number of Chinese artists are gaining international recognition.
From Monday, January 23 – Sunday, January 29, WQXR will ring in the Year of the Dragon with CHINA IN NEW YORK: A WQXR FESTIVAL, an exploration of the work of Chinese-born composers and musicians now active in New York, as well as some of the economic and political issues surrounding classical music in China, through live events, radio specials, and online exclusives available at www.wqxr.org/china.
CHINA IN NEW YORK will be book-ended by two special live events at WQXR’s event venue, The Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. The first, on January 23 at 6pm, is Chinese New Year with Lang Lang and the Quintessenso Choir. In this preview of their New York Philharmonic concert, the renowned Chinese pianist Lang...
January 17, 2012
by Suzanne Joe Kai
1998 isn't really that long ago, but for the Internet, it feels more like a century.
Back then, when a 14 year old kid created AsianConnections.com, an online magazine in search of his Asian American identity, we jumped on board. As mainstream journalists from TV, radio and print, we had been fretting for the zillionth time about the poor and stereotypical coverage of Asian Americans in the media, any American media. (A problem, by the way, that persists even today.)
Scouting for stories, we rejoiced in the fact that Jerry Yang had co-founded Yahoo!, then the biggest star in the constellation of online ventures.
Today, it was announced that Jerry Yang has left Yahoo! What a ride that was for Jerry. Born on February 6, 1966, Jerry Yang has a lifetime ahead of him and we wish him well and hope he continues to innovate.
Digging into our archives here is a commentary by contributing writer Tom Chin, and a photo of Jerry and his Yahoo! co-founder David Filo. We will go back into our archives again and also post Jerry's exclusive interview with AsianConnections.com.
By the way, in honor of the upcoming Year of the Dragon, there is a new beginning - the site is soon to finish a brand new back end system. There will be a lot more images and videos. Our site used to be hosted on the servers of movie review site RottenTomatoes.com thanks to its founders, while I helped the start-up as one of their first...
THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON
begins January 23, 2012 with observances that continue 15 days.
The Dragon is considered by many to be the most auspicous year
in the twelve year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.
Go out and bring in the new year!
Read author and Feng Shui expert Angi Ma Wong's predictions here.
Here are just a sample of the many events celebrating the Year of the Dragon around the country, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Monterey Park, CA, New York City, Flushing, Queens, Vancouver, Portland, Oregon, Richmond, British Columbia, Toronto, Washington DC, Milpitas, Fremont, Palo Alto, Campbell, San Jose, Foster City, Redwood City, Saratoga, Cupertino, Newark, CA, San Bruno, and beyond!
(Compiled from news sources around the country. Please confirm all dates, times and locations independently if you plan to attend any of these events.
Dragon photo by Lia Chang.)
SAN FRANCISCO:
Jan 14-15: San Francisco Flower Market Fair and Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony
The Chinese New Year Flower Fair is held on the weekend before Chinese New Year Day. The Flower Fair is the place to come to purchase fresh flowers, fruits, candy and other new supplies for the home to begin the new year. At the main stage on Washington Street below Grant, the Mayor will join honored guests in officially opening the Festival with a ribbon cutting ceremony. (Estimated time for ribbon cutting ceremony 10:45 a.m.)
Jan. 29: Free...
January 21, 2012
Last night, playwright David Henry Hwang and the cast of Chinglish gathered at Ruby Foo's Restaurant in New York City to welcome in the Year of the Dragon.
Chinglish just celebrated its 100th performance and will be ending its run on Broadway on January 29th. Time Magazine has named Chinglish the "Best American play of the year."
AsianConnections.com's columnist and editor Lia Chang joined the celebration at the restaurant. Lia shot the photograph featuring the two actors Jennifer Lim and Gary Wilmes used in Chinglish's latest media campaign (shown here).
Chinglish is a comedy about the misadventures of miscommunication, written by Tony® Award winner David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) and directed by Obie Award winner Leigh Silverman (From Up Here, Well).
Johnny Wu, Christine Lin, David Henry Hwang, Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin and Larry Lei Zhang at Ruby Foo's Dim Sum Sushi Palace in New York on January 20, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang
Chinglish Playwright David Henry Hwang (photo by Lia Chang)
Yesterday, I met up with David and his cast members Jennifer Lim, Angela Lin, Christine Lin, Johnny Wu and Larry Lei Zhang at Ruby Foo’s Dim Sum Sushi Palace, where they were having a pre-show Year of the Dragon dinner.
Johnny Wu, Christine Lin, David Henry Hwang, Angela Lin, Jennifer Lim and Larry Lei Zhang at Ruby Foo's Dim Sum Sushi Palace in New York on January 20, 2012. Photo by Lia Chang
CHINGLISH is featuring special audience post-show talkbacks on January 24th, 25th and 26th. After these evening shows, the cast will come out to answer audience questions. The mostly bi-lingual and multi-cultural cast will also be answering questions in Mandarin and maybe...