Keyline:  UAA Professor returns from triumphal concerts in China

Media Contact: Dr. Timothy Smith, 786-1524

UAA Professor of Piano Dr. Timothy Smith has just returned from the second of two concerts with the Chinese National Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Terje Wik Mikkelsen.  The first concert (of March 2) was broadcast nationally over Chinese Television twice, on March 24 and 25, on CCTV's music channel.  Both performances took place in large venues in Beijing; the first was in the 1400 seat Poly Plaza Theatre, and the second concert was held at the 1200 seat Tianqiao Theatre, also in Beijing.

Smith performed with Van Cliburn winner Sa Chen, who is China's premiere female classical pianist.  The concerto, written for two pianists with orchestra, included a multimedia video presentation.  The video's theme was intended to heighten environmental awareness and encourage "green thinking" in China.  The concerto, titled "A Green Call" was based on music themes from The Yellow River Piano Concerto and Keith Emerson's Piano Concerto No. 1.  It was arranged for this event by Julie Giroux in cooperation with Jostein Nygard, who works as a Senior Environmental Specialist in the East Asia and Pacific Region of the World Bank.  Actually the entire event was the idea of Mr. Nygard, whose idea was to also include on the first part of the program the Ibsen play "The Enemy of the People", one of the first plays to tackle the issue of environmental awareness.  The play was staged and performed by Chinese musicians with supertitles in English. 

The video shows the pollution and devastation of the Yellow River, followed by its gradual restoration under the World-Bank sponsored Loess Plateau Project.

The entire press release on the concert and the project has been officially released on the World Bank website and can be accessed by going to the World Bank website at http://www.worldbank.org and in the Search box typing in "A Green Call."

Photo credits:  Kosima Weber Liu.