As the organizer we aim to through the Festival display the cultural diversity in Norway society where the Chinese people integrate actively. On 29 September, the Chinese Culture Festival will meet her audiences in Norway once again! Since its debut in 2004, the Chinese Cultural Festival has come to the 10th year in 2013. We expect the festival acting as a cultural stage in transmitting the knowle
dge of the Chinese culture and tradition and promoting the social cooperation beyond the ethnic boundaries. This years’ festival will arrange a concert gala at the Oslo Opera House. The concert jointly celebrates the 64th anniversary of the China’s National Day. The concert will showcases young talents from Norway and China a repertoire of divergent styles to deliver a glorious music night. As the best chamber orchestra in Norway and as the “Ensemble in residence” at the renowned Barratt Due Institute of Music in Oslo, Oslo Camerata will feature Edvard Grieg’s masterpiece Holberg Suite. Holberg Suite, more properly "From Holberg's Time", is a commemorative piece for the celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of “the Molière of the North”, the Norwegian writer Ludvig Baron Holberg (1684-1754). Holberg was a contemporary of Bach and Handel, so Grieg chose to cast his tribute in the form of a Baroque period keyboard suite. Violinist Catharina Chen, the youngest 1.Concertmaster of The Norwegian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, will play Chinese masterpiece Butterfly Lovers while soloist Sara Chen will perform a Chinese folk music. Butterfly Lovers was awarded the title of "Oriental Romeo and Juliet". It has been spread far and wide in China for over 1600 years. It narrates an ancient love legend: Lan Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, two people in love in their lifetime could not be together because of the feudal ethics. After the death, they turned into a pair of colored butterflies and flew wing to wing together and forever. Chinese artists will bring a selection of masterpieces and showcase their technical virtuosity with traditional Chinese instruments. P**a, erhu, dizi and suona are among the oldest instruments in China and have been played for thousand years. The p**a, for example, is a four stringed lute with a pear-shaped body. The p**a is frequently mentioned in Chinese ancient poetry, where it is often praised for its refinement and delicacy of tone, with poems dedicated to well-known players describing their performances. Another Chinese instrument erhu has a sweet sound similar as a violin, but with a thinner tone due to the smaller resonating chamber covered with python skin. The finale of the concert is Peking Opera which is well known in the world as the “Oriental Opera”. Peking opera is impressive by its traditional costume, its beauty in every motion and its artistic expressions of combing music, vocal performance, mime, dance, and acrobatics. Peking Opera is therefore known as the quintessence of traditional Chinese theater arts. In co-operation with those professional artists from Norway and China, the Chinese Cultural Festival will take you on an unparalleled musical journey in this September!
