Symphony - Five Actions of Wu KongOct. 18th, 2015 Shanghai Grand Theatre
The Monkey King embodies many contradictions, he was given the Buddhist name "Wu Kong”(mneaning "to realize the void of senses"), he was doomed to a fate of struggling and fighting for freedom. We always say that deep in every Chinese soul, there lives a Monkey King, fighting for freedom as we define it ourselves, during our lifetime. The work Five Actions of Wu Kong reflects one's inner ambivalence, when it comes to freedom, fate and life's journey. The five actions are constructed using a Chinese theatrical approach to tension and relaxation. The titles are as follows: Lento - the Purple Forest of Spirits; Presto - "There is a young lady on the road ahead!"; Andante - Monolog in the Moonlight; Largo - "Wear this metal head hoop, and you will be free"; Allegro - Eternal Battle Symphony Ochestra.
Zhou Juan
A native of Sichuan, grew up in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China, Zhou Juan graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music (BA and MA) and University of Missouri - Kansas City (DMA). She is associate professor in music composition at the Central Conservatory. She was awarded the China Music Golden Bell Award,17th and 18th National Music Composition Award, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, GEDOK “Fuch-Award", and Staunton Music Festival Emerging Composer Award. She received commissions and has worked with China National Centre for the Performing Arts, Korean Traditional Arts Foundation, Beijing People's Art Theatre, Chongqing Peking Opera House, Chengdu Peking Opera Research Center, Alarm Will Sound, Nieuw Ensemble, Kansas City Chorale, Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, New Dramatists Composer-Librettist Studio, Virginia Arts Festival, Bachfest Leipzig, and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Arts. Her major works include End of the Earth (orchestra), Far Far Away (orchestra), Before “Curtain!”(symphonic band), My Spiritual Garden (Uygur artists and chamber orchestra), Wu Kong (opera), Fate Makes a Choice (music theater), Golden Lock (Peking Opera incidental music), Sing by the River Flower (Peking Opera incidental music), Oedipus the King (musical play), Love Cantata, Wind (chorus a cappella), Second Language (jazz mixed combo) Water Your Memory (jazz band), Ming (large ensemble), Say "Bye"(large ensemble), Cycle of Life (song cycle), two string quartets, and many chamber works.
