Cello & Piano Recital
Songs of Summer on the Island of Music
Li-Wei Qin × Jiajia Shi
Gulangyu Concert Hall · May 18, 2024 · 19:30
Overview
Renowned cellist Li-Wei Qin, praised by The New York Times for his “ravishingly beautiful tone, flawless intonation, and ironclad technique,” returns to collaborate with pianist Jiajia Shi, a Central Conservatory of Music professor celebrated for her “extraordinary skill, dramatic flair, and passionate playing” (German–Dutch Summer Festival Review).
Together, they bring a program of lyrical beauty and intensity to the “Island of Music” — Gulangyu.
From Schubert’s elegant Arpeggione Sonata and Schumann’s poetic Fantasiestücke to the modern Chinese masterpiece Lin Chong by Fang Dongqing and Shostakovich’s deeply expressive Cello Sonata, the evening unfolds as a dialogue between grace and passion, between European Romanticism and Chinese modernity.
Program
Franz Schubert — Arpeggione Sonata in A Minor, D.821
I. Allegro moderato
II. Adagio
III. Allegretto
Robert Schumann — Fantasiestücke, Op.73
— Intermission —
Fang Dongqing — Lin Chong
I. Snow Tramping
II. Slaughter
III. Night Escape
Dmitri Shostakovich — Cello Sonata in D Minor, Op.40
I. Allegro non troppo
II. Allegro
III. Largo
IV. Allegro
Artists
Li-Wei Qin — Cello
Described by The New York Times as “a cellist with a ravishingly beautiful tone, flawless intonation, and ironclad technique,” Li-Wei Qin is one of the world’s foremost cellists. A laureate of both the Tchaikovsky and Naumburg International Competitions, he has performed with orchestras including the London Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, BBC Symphony, Berlin Radio Symphony, and China Philharmonic, under conductors such as Ashkenazy, Yu Long, and Eschenbach.
His acclaimed recordings with Decca, Universal, and Sony Classical include Beethoven’s Complete Cello Sonatas, Rachmaninoff’s Cello Works, and the Elgar / Britten / Walton Concertos with the London Philharmonic.
Qin serves as Professor of Cello at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (National University of Singapore) and Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. He performs on a 1780 Joseph Guadagnini cello generously sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Wu Yuxun.
Jiajia Shi — Piano
Born in Fujian, pianist Jiajia Shi is Associate Professor of Piano and Chamber Music at the Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. She began her musical journey as a prodigy, studying under the legendary Zhou Guangren and later with Li Mingqiang, Fan Minjuan, Wang Yu, and Sheng Yiqi.
A graduate of the Trossingen University of Music in Germany, Shi earned dual master’s degrees in Piano Performance and Chamber Music, studying with Gabriel Amiras (student of Heinrich Neuhaus) and Sadao Harada (cellist of the Tokyo String Quartet).
As a performer, Shi has appeared throughout China, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Japan. Her recital at the German–Dutch Summer Music Festival was hailed as “a passionate, technically brilliant, and dramatically expressive performance.”
She has collaborated with major artists including Rainer Kussmaul, Mikhail Kopelman, Lynn Harrell, Wolfgang Boettcher, Sadao Harada, and Eduard Brunner.
Shi is recognized as one of China’s foremost chamber pianists. Since 2007, she has co-directed the Chamber Music Department at CCOM, organized the Beijing International Chamber Music Masterclasses, and served as Vice Chair of the Shanghai Haydn Chamber Music Competition jury.
Venue
Gulangyu Concert Hall · Xiamen, China
May 18, 2024 · 19:30