OSL: NYC Five Borough Tour | The Music of Chen Yi

• Jeffrey Zeigler, cello
• Chen Tao, xiao flute
• Liu Li, guqin

Discover the remarkable music of Chen Yi, a celebrated Chinese-American composer whose work connects cultures and tells stories that resonate around the world. This special program brings Chen Yi's music to life offering an experience that blends tradition, inspiration, and creativity.

Born in China and thriving as an artist in the United States, Chen Yi combines the melodies of her heritage with a global perspective, creating music that is fresh, vibrant, and deeply moving. This concert features her dynamic compositions alongside the music that has influenced her journey, showcasing a joyful celebration of culture and sound.

About OSL's NYC Five Borough Tour: Orchestra of St. Luke's offers a free concert tour across New York City each season. This March, the tour will highlight award-winning composer Chen Yi, celebrating her creative journey and diverse musical influences. Born in China and now a longtime resident of the U.S., Chen Yi will present her beloved string compositions alongside traditional Chinese instrumental works that have profoundly shaped her distinctive musical voice.

About St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble

St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble was founded in 1974 when a group of virtuoso musicians began performing chamber music concerts at Greenwich Village’s Church of St. Luke in the Fields. Today, the 24 Ensemble musicians make up the artistic core of Orchestra of St. Luke's. Every season, OSL features the Ensemble in its Chamber Music Series that explores beloved chamber works and brings attention to lesser-known or rarely-performed works through three distinct programs performed at The Morgan Library & Museum, Brooklyn Museum, and Merkin Hall. Throughout the season, musicians of the St. Luke's Chamber Ensemble perform on almost every program presented by OSL.

About Orchestra of St. Luke's (OSL)

https://oslmusic.org/

About Jeffrey Zeigler, cello

Jeffrey Zeigler has released dozens of albums on Nonesuch Records, Deutsche Grammophon, Cantaloupe, and Smithsonian Folkways and has appeared with Norah Jones on her album Not Too Late on Blue Note Records. Zeigler's multifaceted career has led to collaborations with a wide array of artists from Yo-Yo Ma and Tanya Tagaq to Philip Glass and John Zorn and from Laurie Anderson to Siddhartha Mukherjee.

While serving as the cellist of the internationally renowned Kronos Quartet for eight seasons, Zeigler was the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, the Polar Music Prize, the President's Merit Award from the Grammys, and The Asia Society's Cultural Achievement Award. Jeffrey Zeigler was recently appointed Assistant Professor of Chamber Music and Innovation at the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami.

About Chen Tao, xiao flute

https://www.melodyofdragon.org/chentao.html

About Liu Li, guqin

The renowned guqin artist Liu Li is currently a guqin soloist, as well as the ruan player for Melody of Dragon, Inc. and for the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York. Before coming to the U.S., she was Associate Professor at the Chinese Conservatory of Music, as well as a soloist in their Experimental Orchestra. She was a member of the Chinese Folk Music Orchestra, the Beijing Guqin Research Association and the Shanghai Jinyu Guqin Society.

In 1988 Ms. Liu graduated from the Folk Music Department of the Central Conservatory of Music. Her performance is noted for its generous, rich and mellow tones as well as its skillful execution, full feeling and variation of expression. She excels in musical articulation of emotion, always with vivid highlights and a moving spirit.

Since she moved to America in 1994, Liu Li has been invited frequently to perform and lecture throughout the country. Her collaboration with the New Music Consort of the Manhattan School of Music's Chamber Orchestra received high praise from the critics. She was invited by China Institute in America to perform in their spring 1995 season, and delivered a performance that captured the attention of many in the music field. She has also performed at Lincoln Center, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Japanese Society, La Mama Theater, the Metropolitan Museum of Arts, and other New York venues. She has featured on a cable TV program in New Jersey and New York (Channel 31) titled "The Chinese Guqin--Liu Li's Artistry." In February 1996, inviting by Taiwan's National Music Ensemble in Taipei, Liu Li held a concerto performance in the National Hall of Music as well as a lecture on guqin music, both of which were critically acclaimed.

Liu Li has been invited by both foreign and domestic companies to record a variety of famous guqin music, many of which are contemporary works. Hong Kong's Hugo Record Company and Germany's ZDF Broadcasting Station recorded the Liu Li Guqin Album. In addition, the Central People's Broadcasting Station and Radio Shanghai arranged special programs to introduce her music. Radio International Beijing ran a special program that was broadcast to 80 countries around the world and received many enthusiastic responses. In 2002, she collaborated on the movie music recording of "Hero" composed by Oscar winner Tan Dun with world famous violin master Itzhak Perlman. Her Quqin music can also be heard on the movie soundtrack of The White Countess, produced by Merchant Ivory company. In 2010, China Institute in America selected her music Pu-an's Incantation at their special online exhibition Confucius: His Life and Legacy in Art.

Recently, Ms. Liu has been engaged in research on the performance and teaching of guqin, and has gained experience in systematic teaching methods. Her students have won first place in both domestic and foreign guqin competitions. She has lectured and performed at the invitation of Beijing University, Fudan University, the Beijing branch of Germany's Goethe Institute, Columbia University, Syracuse University, Queens College and other well known centers of learning.

Liu Li is currently one of the only professionally trained guqin players in America.