contempo primo
The training program contempo primo came to a successful conclusion with the foundation of the ensemble ConTempo Beijing and the ensemble’s debut concert
May 14, 2011
The training program contempo primo came to a successful conclusion with the foundation of the ensemble ConTempo Beijing and the ensemble’s debut concert given on 14th May 2011.
In 2010 the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing and the Siemens Stiftung set up an educational program for contemporary chamber music in Beijing called contempo primo. The initial idea behind the project was to teach and further educate young Chinese musicians, and help set up a professional ensemble for modern music in China combining both Asian and European music traditions.
„contempo primo“ Musiker
Foto: Sascha Rheker, Frankfurt am Main
© Hessischer Rundfunk/Sascha Rheker, Frankfurt am Main
Projekt „contempo primo“
Frühjahr 2010 – Frühjahr 2011
Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing
Highly gifted musicians living in China were invited to apply to study on the contempo primo course. From the springs of 2010 to 2011, the selected instrumentalists worked hard on an extensive repertoire of music from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, directed by the globally renowned International Ensemble Modern Academy, from Frankfurt am Main, and the conductor Kasper de Roo.
The foundation of the young and dynamic ensemble ConTempo Beijing, which gave its debut concert on the 14th May 2011 in the Beijing Concert Hall, marked the successful completion of the contempo primo training program. The ensemble’s foundation prepared the way for the creation and development of an exemplary form of modern chamber music in China, This created a new and unprecedented chance for traditional Chinese instruments and Western instruments to play together.
Two highlights in the debut concert were the world premieres of compositions written by GUO Wenjing and JIA Guoping. GUO is one of China’s most internationally renowned modern-day composers. His works are influenced by traditional Chinese music, and yet he also aims in his works to break down boundaries and barriers between the East and the West, and between history and the present-day. The work premiered was commissioned by the Siemens Stiftung. A further work, written by JIA Guoping for traditional Chinese instruments, was also commissioned by the Siemens Stiftung and presented during the debut concert. JIA teaches composition at the Central Conservatory of Music and has greatly contributed to the collaboration between China and Germany. The number of invitations he has received to give lectures at colleges abroad, and to perform at international music festivals, is an indication of his international standing as both a performer and mediator.
