Lan Shui, music director for Singapore Symphony Orchestra, chief conductor of Copenhagen Philharmonic and artistic advisor for the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, made his debut with San Francisco Symphony, at the 14th annual Chinese New Year Concert, on February 8, 2014. The Lunar New Year celebration welcomed the Year of the Horse and attracted a capacity audience of some 2,700. The festivities began at 3 pm at Davies Symphony Hall with pre-concert family activities including arts and crafts, calligraphy, lion dancing and magic shows for children. A post-concert Imperial Dinner for 300 followed, at City Hall.
The concert program opened with the popular Chinese Dragon Dance and included traditional Asian works such as Colorful Clouds Chasing Moon and Good News from Beijing Reaches Border Villages along with Johann Strauss Jr.‘s Voices of Spring Waltz. Violinist and former San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra concertmaster Alina Ming Kobialka joined the orchestra in the traditional work Ambush on All Sides as well as Waxman‘s Carmen Fantasy. Pianist David Fung also made his San Francisco Symphony debut in Qigang Chen‘s piano concerto Er Huang.
Scenes from the Imperial Dinner:
Photos by Moanalani Jeffrey Photography