Saturday, March 1, 2025,  8 pm
at Jordan Hall, Boston


Presenting 

Nancy Zhou 周穎, violin
Weicong Zhang
張薇聰, piano
 


"







 











 

 




~
Program ~


Igor Stravinsky:
"Suite italienne" for Cello and Piano (or Violin and Piano)

Introduzione
Serenata
Aria
Tarantella
Minuetto e Finale
(about 18 to 20 min)

Ottorino Respighi:
Sonata in B minor for Violin and Piano, P. 110

Moderato
Andante espressivo
Passacaglia: Allegro moderato ma energico
(about 30 min)


~ Intermission ~


Arvo Pärt:
"Fratres" for Violin and Piano
(arranged in 1977)
(about 12 min)

César Franck:
Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano

Allegretto ben moderato
Allegro
Recitativo-Fantasia: Ben moderato
Allegretto poco mosso

(about 30 min)





Nancy Zhou 周穎, violin
nancyzhouviolin.com

Known for her probing musical voice and searing virtuosity, Nancy Zhou seeks to invigorate appreciation for the art and science of the violin. Her thoughtful musicianship and robust online presence resonate with a global audience in such a way that brings her on stage with leading orchestras around the world.

More than 20 years since her orchestral debut, Nancy has collaborated with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Munich Symphony, Hong Kong Philharmonic, New Jersey Symphony, Naples Philharmonic, San Diego Symphony, among others. A passionate soloist who cherishes chamber music collaborations and commits to the responsibility of education, Nancy has performed at festivals including the Verbier Festival, Tongyeong Music Festival, and Marvão Festival; she is a regular guest educator at various international summer festivals, holding not only masterclasses but also workshops on fundamental training and wellbeing for musicians.

Over the years, the violinist's interest in cultural heritage and the humanities manifested in a string of notable collaborations across the US and in China. In collaboration with the New Jersey Symphony and Xian Zhang, she presented Zhao Jiping's first violin concerto at Alice Tully Hall; gave the US premieres of Unsuk Chin's "Gran Cadenza" for two solo violins with Anne-Sophie Mutter; performed Chen Qigang's "La joie de la souffrance" with the Rogue Valley Symphony; and, in partnership with the La Jolla Symphony, gave the West Coast premiere of Vivian Fung’s Violin Concerto no. 1. On the other side of the globe, the past season saw Nancy bringing three cornerstone concerti to China in a five-city tour; her collaborative partners included the Shanghai and Guangzhou Symphony Orchestras, and the China and Hohhot Philharmonics.

In the summer of 2025, Nancy embarks on a research trip with Canadian-born Chinese composer Vivian Fung to Zhexiang, China - the hometown village of the violinist's mother, a former professional folk dancer. The project culminates with a work for violin and electronics that explores the intersection of music as a cultural force and folk minority culture. In October 2024, Nancy recorded her debut album, Stories (re)Traced, in response to these questions. The album features four seminal and inextricably connected works for solo violin, including Béla Bartók’s Sonata, and releases this summer with Orchid Classics.

The 24/25 season brings a returning engagement with the New Jersey Symphony, performances with Orquestra Vigo, Puerto Rico Symphony, San Antonio Philharmonic, Hangzhou Philharmonic, and Guiyang Symphony, as well as recital appearances in Boston, Mexico, Portugal, Taiwan, and China.

Born in Texas to Chinese immigrant parents, Nancy began the violin under the guidance of her father, who hails from a family of traditional musicians. She went on to study with Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory while pursuing her interest in literature at Harvard University.

Since 2019, she is an Associated Artist of the Queen Elisabeth Chapel and was appointed Professor of Violin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in September 2023. Nancy plays on an 1815 Giovanni Battiste Ceruti.

For more information, please visit: nancyzhouviolin.com
Management: Earl Blackburn, Kanzen Arts LLC.


Weicong Zhang
張薇聰, piano

Pianist Weicong Zhang, a native of Shanghai, has shared the stage with many distinguished artists, including violinists Pierre Amoyal, Ning Feng, Bing Huang, Albert Markov, Ian Swensen, violists Nobuko Imai, Dimitri Murrath, Lars Anders Tomter, Matthias Buchholz, Teng Li, cellist Wen-Sinn Yang, Haiye Ni, Martti Rousi, Reinhard Latzko, flutist Emmanuel Pahud, Henrik Wiese, clarinetist Thorsten Johanns, trumpet player Matthias Höfs.

She has toured in the United States and Canada, performing at the Stern Auditorium at the Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Vancouver Playhouse etc. Since she returned to China in 2008, she has performed in almost every major venue such as China National Center for the Performing Arts, Beijing Concert Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, Shanghai Oriental Art Center, Shanghai Symphony Concert Hall, Jiangsu Grand Theater, Guangzhou Xinhai Concert Hall, Xian Concert Hall, Wuhan Qintai Concert Hall, Shenzhen Concert Hall, Hongkong Cultural Center. Ms. Zhang has been guest artist in Morningside Music Bridge, Bowdoin International Music Festival, Young Euro Classic Festival Ensemble, Beijing International Music Festival, Shanghai Conservatory of Music and San Francisco Conservatory of Music International Chamber Music Festival and International Violin Master classes and Sonata Competition of Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She was also collaborative pianist for three Piatigorsky Seminars in Los Angeles. She gave masterclasses in collaborative piano and chamber music at Manhattan School of Music, San Francisco Conservatory of Music, The Middle School affiliated with Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Xian Conservatory of Music and Zhejiang Conservatory of Music. Her recording with violinist Feng Ning “ French Violin Sonatas and Miniatures” was released in 2020.

Ms. Zhang received her bachelor degree at UT Austin and both master degree and doctoral degree in collaborative piano from Manhattan School of Music where she studied with Dr. Heasook Rhee. Ms. Zhang taught piano solo and chamber music at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Currently she is teaching chamber music at Tianjin Juilliard School Precollege

 

  Press Release

violinist Nancy Zhou and pianist Weicong Zhang
at NEC’s Jordan Hall
Saturday, March 1st, 2025, 8 pm

中華表演藝術基金會第36屆音樂季第3場音樂會,將於31日週六晚上八時,邀請小提琴家周穎(Nancy Zhou),以及鋼琴家張薇聰(Weicong Zhang),在新英格蘭音樂學院的喬丹音樂廳 (Jordan Hall) 同台聯合演出。

目包括:

斯特拉文斯基 (Stravinsky)- 《意大利組曲》 大提琴與鋼琴(或小提琴與鋼琴)
雷斯皮基
(Respighi) - B小調小提琴與鋼琴奏鳴曲,作品110
帕爾特
(Pärt) - 《兄弟》 小提琴與鋼琴(1977年)
弗朗克
(Franck) - A大調小提琴與鋼琴奏鳴曲

音樂會票價為 $20 (7-13 )$40$60。提供14歲以上學生免費票,及非學生贈送卷。需事前預訂。6歲以下兒童請勿入場。詳情請在中華表演藝術基金會的官網查詢. 線上售票31日下午3時將關閉。現場沒有免費票贈送。門票為10美元,僅限現金支付

小提琴家周Nancy Zhou),

周穎2018年上海艾萨克·斯特恩 (Isaac Stern) 小提琴大賽的獲獎者。她以深刻的音樂表達和熾熱的技藝聞名,並致力於激發人們對小提琴藝術與科學的欣賞。周女士曾與瑞典皇家斯德哥爾摩 (Stockholm)愛樂樂團、慕尼黑 (Munich) 交響樂團、香港管弦樂團、新澤西交響樂團等合作演出,並參加過包括維比耶 (Verbier) 音樂節、統營 (Tongyeong) 音樂節和馬爾瓦奧 (Marvão)音樂節等音樂節的演出。

2024/25音樂季,她將再次與新澤西交響樂團合作,並將與維哥 (Orquestra Vigo) 交響樂團、波多黎各交響樂團、聖安東尼奧愛樂、杭州愛樂和貴陽交響樂團等演出,此外還將在波士頓、墨西哥、葡萄牙、台灣和國等地進行獨奏演出。自2019年以來,她是比利時伊麗莎白女王音樂學院的聯合藝術家,並於20239月被任命為舊金山音樂學院的小提琴教授。周穎使用的是1815年由喬凡尼·巴蒂斯塔·切魯蒂 (Giovanni Battiste Ceruti) 製作的小提琴。

鋼琴家張薇聰Weicong Zhang

合作鋼琴家張薇聰曾與許多傑出的藝術家同台演出,包括小提琴家皮埃爾·阿摩雅 (Pierre Amoyal)、中提琴家 Nobuko Imai 和大提琴家 Wen-Sinn Yang 等。她曾在美國和加拿大巡演,並在卡內基音樂廳的斯特恩音樂廳 (Stern Auditorium) 、維爾 (Weill) 音樂廳、溫哥華劇院等地演出。2008年回中國後,她已在幾乎所有主要音樂場所演出過,包括中國國家大劇院、北京音樂廳和上海音樂廳等。

張女士在德州大學奧斯汀 (Austin) 分校獲得學士學位,並在曼哈頓音樂學院獲得合作鋼琴家碩士學位及博士學位,並跟隨 Heasook Rhee 博士學習合作鋼琴。張女士曾在上海音樂學院任教,目前在天津茱莉亞學院預科教授室內樂。
 


NOTES ON THE PROGRAM
 By Dr. Jannie Burdeti

Igor Stravinsky:
"Suite italienne" for Cello and Piano (or Violin and Piano)

Introduzione
Serenata
Aria
Tarantella
Minuetto e Finale


“Pulcinella was my discovery of the past, the epiphany through which the whole of my late works became possible.” -Igor Stravinsky

Suite italienne is one of several arrangements Igor Stravinsky derived from his ballet Pulcinella. In 1917, Sergei Diaghilev, impresario and founder of the famed Ballet Russes, travelled to Italy, where he attended a commedia dell’arte performance in Naples. Greatly inspired by what he heard, he returned with music attributed to Giovanni Battista Pergolesi (1710-1736), along with a proposal for his long-time collaborator, Stravinsky. Diaghilev had already played a major role in launching Stravinsky’s career through their early collaborations, including Firebird, Petrushka, and Rite of Spring, but Stravinsky initially hesitated. Despite contractual disputes, Stravinsky ultimately agreed to write music for this new ballet, Pulcinella, with music based on Pergolesi. Moreover, he was delighted at the opportunity to work with Pablo Picasso, who would be designing the sets. Premiered in Paris in 1920, Pulcinella was met with great success.

While musicologists often consider Pulcinella a colourful arrangement of the original eighteenth-century music attributed to Pergolesi (especially the first two movements), Stravinsky’s piquant harmonies and witty rhythms are unmistakably his. This project ignited his creativity and initiated Stravinsky’s second major compositional phase in his life, a three-decade exploration of Neo-Classicism. Diaghilev and Stravinsky, believing that all the music was by Pergolesi, were unaware that publishers in the eighteenth-century misattributed works for financial gain. Current research reveals that only the Serenata, Aria, and Menuetto were genuinely by Pergolesi, while the Introduzione, Tarantella, and Finale were composed by the younger Domenico Gallo (1730-1768).

The Suite italienne opens with a bright and rousing overture titled Introduzione, structured in an orchestral ritornello style. Despite being written for two instruments, the music conveys an orchestral texture which alternates with solo instruments. The Serenata, adapted from a tenor canzonetta in Pergolesi’s opera buffa, Il Flaminio, features a lilting siciliano rhythm that evokes both comfort and melancholy. The Aria, the suite’s emotional core, comes from the same opera, where the bass character Bastiano humorously declares his love. A fast and virtuosic Tarantella follows, leading into the Minuetto e Finale, which builds dramatically before concluding with a striking passage reminiscent of Petrushka.

The ballet’s plot, as summarized by Stravinsky, is as follows: “All the local girls are in love with Pulcinella; but the young men to whom they are betrothed are mad with jealousy and plot to kill him. The minute they think they have succeeded, they borrow costumes resembling Pulcinella’s to present themselves to their sweethearts in disguise. But Pulcinella—cunning fellow!—had changed places with a double, who pretends to succumb to their blows. The real Pulcinella, disguised as a magician, now resuscitates his double. At the very moment when the young men, thinking they are rid of their rival, come to claim their sweethearts, Pulcinella appears and arranges all the marriages. He himself weds Pimpinella, receiving the blessing of his double, who in his turn has assumed the magician’s mantle.”

Although Suite italienne is an abridged version, it preserves the essence of Pulcinella’s joy, wit, and humor.

Ottorino Respighi:
Sonata in B minor for Violin and Piano, P. 110

Moderato
Andante espressivo
Passacaglia: Allegro moderato ma energico

Born in 1879 in Bologna, Italy, Ottorino Respighi is best known for his orchestral compositions, particularly his triptych of colorful tone poems celebrating Rome: Fountains of Rome, Pines of Rome, and Roman Festivals. Composed in 1917, alongside Fountains of Rome and Ancient Airs and Dances for Lute (Suite No. 1), Respighi’s Violin Sonata in B Minor is often overshadowed by his larger symphonic works. However, it is gaining increasing popularity in both concert halls and in musicological circles, especially following Jascha Heifetz’s influential 1972 recording.

Born into a family of musicians, Respighi benefitted from a broad musical upbringing—he received lessons in violin, viola, piano, composition, and music history from an early age. During his brief, yet formative studies in orchestration and composition with Rimsky-Korsakov in St. Petersburg, he worked as the principal violist of the Russian Imperial Theatre Orchestra. He would later become professor of composition at the conservatory in Rome. As an excellent violinist and pianist, Respighi took pride in his Violin Sonata in B minor, which remains to this day his most frequently performed chamber work.

Deeply infused with the spirit of late Romanticism, the sonata is thought to reflect the emotional weight of his mother’s passing a year prior—a loss that profoundly affected him. The sonata opens with flowing triplets beneath a violin melody that yearns, reaches, and soars into profoundly personal corners of the human psyche. Thematic intervals of sevenths and ninths form the structural backbone of the piece, while rapid modulations and chromaticism intensify its expressive scope. Although the score features seemingly complicated mixed meters and polyrhythms, the music unfolds with effortless ease and organicism.

The effect of Respighi’s use of unusual rhythmic notation and meters in the second movement is a limpid lyricism that continues to come across as improvised freedom, unhampered by the shackles of ordinary notation. The music’s emotional expanse gradually builds to a scope and intensity reminiscent of Italian grand opera. A climax arrives when the violin is marked “come una cadenza” (like a cadenza), after which the movement gently subsides, recalling material from the opening.

The final movement is a passacaglia, a series of variations built on a repeating bass line, a reference to the composer’s expertise of early Italian music. Its theme is rhythmically robust and spans an unusual ten-bar phrase, undergoing varied transformations before ultimately reaching a monumental conclusion, punctuated by a dramatic tremolo in the lowest registers of the piano.

Written during World War I, the premiere was given in 1918 with Respighi on the piano, along with his former violin teacher, Federico Sarti.

Arvo Pärt:
"Fratres" for Violin and Piano
(arranged in 1977)

“I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence comforts me.” -Arvo Pärt

Crises often serve as a catalyst for new beginnings and innovation. Such was the case for Arvo Pärt when he entered a near eight-year hiatus from composing. Born in Estonia in 1935, Arvo Pärt initially gained recognition as one of the leading avant-garde composers in the USSR. He embraced many of the era’s prevailing trends, including serialism, neoclassicism, collage technique, and aleatoricism. Additionally, he was a tremendously prolific film composer, writing for over fifty films.

A turning point came in 1968 when his Credo (for piano, chorus, and orchestra) caused such a sensation that the audience demanded an encore. Before he knew it, the USSR regime banned the work because of its religious themes, which were thought to be politically subversive. This event shocked him profoundly, much like Dmitri Shostakovich’s public denunciation following his opera, Lady Macbeth. Pärt later recounted, “in that great desperation, [I was] ready to ask anyone how a composer ought to write music… [I] once met a street-sweeper who gave me a remarkable reply. ‘Oh,’ [the street-sweeper] said, ‘the composer would probably need to love each and every sound.’”

This revelation proved transformative for Pärt. He later referred to this stranger as a ‘true theologian.’ From 1968 to 1976, he dived into an intense study of Gregorian chant, the Notre Dame School, and Renaissance polyphony. This period marked a rebirth for Pärt’s creativity, culminating in an entirely new method of composing, which he subsequently named tintinnabuli (Latin for ‘sounding bells’). A true distillation of material, it typically consists of only two musical lines: one arpeggiating a chord (named the “tintinnabular voice”) and a second which consists primarily of stepwise motion. The voices interact in a mathematically exacting manner, producing a meditative and transcendent effect. While deeply rooted in Orthodox Christianity, the universal spiritual appeal of Pärt’s music has been proven again and again. Indeed, his compositions have created a watershed in the world of music, crossing genres like none other; his works are performed by great classical musicians and church choirs, as well as by famous popular artists like Björk and Radiohead.

Fratres (‘Brothers’ in Latin), premiered in 1977, was originally written “without fixed instrumentation.” It debuted with the early music ensemble Hortus Musicus, performed by a string quintet and wind quintet. In 1980, Pärt transcribed it for violin and piano, and it was performed by Gidon Kremer and Elena Kremer. The piece consists of variations introduced by an earth-shattering buildup in the solo violin marked “ppp poco a poco crescendo sino al fff.” A rhythmic motif, heard in the left hand of the piano and plucked strings in the violin, serves as a bookmark between variations. The violin, acting as the tintinnabuli voice, arpeggiates chords, while the piano moves linearly, in a chant-like manner. A constant drone heard throughout the work evokes a sense of stillness and contemplation—reminiscent of a monk (‘fratres’ or brother) remaining serene amidst the noise and din of worldly turmoil.

César Franck:
Sonata in A Major for Violin and Piano

Allegretto ben moderato
Allegro
Recitativo-Fantasia: Ben moderato
Allegretto poco mosso
 

César Franck was born in Liège in 1822. When the young composer reached thirteen years of age, his father moved the family to Paris in hopes of cultivating his son’s musical career. Despite his father’s aspirations, Franck led a largely quiet career as a church organist. Only in his later years did he become an organ and composition professor at the Paris Conservatoire. Franck’s Violin Sonata is without question his most celebrated work and has been performed by nearly all of historys great violinists and pianists.

The Violin Sonatas genesis is traced back to an 1858 letter addressed to Hans von Bülow, a pianist who championed Francks works. In the letter, Franck acknowledges Bülows help and promises repayment in the form of a violin sonata dedicated to Bülows wife, Cosima (daughter of Franz Liszt and who later remarried Richard Wagner). However, no violin sonata with that dedication ever appeared. Nearly three decades later in 1886, Franck dedicated his first and only violin sonata to Eugene Ysaÿe as a wedding gift. Upon receiving the package containing Francks manuscript, Ysaÿe decided to immediately play it with his sister-in-law, Marie-Léontine Bordes-Pène, at the piano. It is speculated that the work Ysaÿe received is a later draft of the sonata originally intended for Cosima.

As in common in Franck’s compositions, the sonata employs a cyclic form, featuring a recurring theme appearing in all four movements. The opening Allegretto ben moderato unfolds gently and poignantly in the piano, introducing a rocking, iambic rhythm that the violin then continues. Twice, the piano surges into a lyrical outpouring before returning to its subdued character. Franck originally conceived this movement at a slow tempo while Ysaÿe envisioned it faster and performed it as such at the premiere, to the composers approbation. Todays violinists follow Ysaÿes faster interpretation.

With its surging syncopations, the second movement brings the listener on a wild and tumultuous ride. A brief moment of repose in the middle of the movement allows the listener to enjoy the harmonies and textures before being swept back into the throes of the storm.

The third movement, marked Recitativo-Fantasia, offers a stark contrast. Its earthy, rhapsodic nature recalls Francks famed organ improvisations. Later in the movement, a passage of measured triplets in the piano underlying an ethereal violin melody creates yet another layer of contrast. Near the end, sonorous low octaves evoke the sound of tolling bells, foreshadowing the upcoming finale.

The final movement opens with a flowing yet precise canon between the violin and piano. The piano states a simple yet captivating tune, which the violin imitates, as if symbolizing a couple exchanging wedding vows. Eventually, the roles reverse: the violin leads gracefully while the piano follows. The sound of tolling chapel bells return in the piano part, which completes the celebratory scene. Undoubtedly one of the most beloved violin sonatas of the nineteenth century, Franck’s Violin Sonata has been transcribed for various instruments, including cello, flute, double-bass, and even organ with mixed choir.


音樂會門票分為$60 (貴賓保留區、可預先指定座位)及$40(不對號自由入座)兩種, 學生票$20 (不對號自由座區)  。六歲以下兒 童請勿入場 。網站購票無手續費 。
$60: VIP Reserved Seats
$40: open seating at non-VIP section
$20: student open seating at non-VIP section
Children under 6 not admitted.

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Limited free tickets available for students, 1 per request for age 14 and up.
查詢: 中華表演藝術基金會會長譚嘉陵, 電話: 781-259-8195
Email: Foundation@ChinesePerformingArts.net

 





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中華表演藝術基金會
Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts
Lincoln, Massachusetts
updated 2025