International artists gather for Shirley Young memorial concert

A tribute concert in memory of Shirley Young will be staged at Shangyin Opera House this week, featuring international and domestic artists including Tan Dun, Liao Changyong and Huang Doudou.

Entitled "Time and Vision," the fusion audio-visual concert integrates classical and modern, traditional and futuristic elements.

Conductor Tan Dun will work with choreographer Huang Doudou, soprano Huang Ying, composer Gong Tianpeng, pianist Frank Corliss from the Bard College Conservatory of Music, and the Bard Percussion Ensemble from New York.

Shirley Young, whose Chinese name was Yang Xuelan, was born in Shanghai and raised in the United States. The trailblazing business leader and cultural diplomat was the first Chinese-American female vice president at General Motors.

Young chaired the New York-based US-China Cultural Institute, and devoted herself to promoting people-to-people exchanges, believing it was important for the West to understand Chinese people and Chinese culture since the development of China-US relations is ultimately determined by the people of the two countries.

She died in New York in 2020.

The concert will feature a specially commissioned chamber work by Gong Tianpeng titled "Song of the Moon," which incorporates elements from both the Midnight Bells Piano Concerto (which was commissioned by Young) and her beloved song "The Moon Represents My Heart."

Additional highlights will include a dance performance by Huang Doudou in collaboration with dancers from Shanghai Theater Academy Dance School, a mini opera composed by Tan Dun, and two art songs presented by baritone Liao Changyong.

The encore piece will be Tan Dun's Happy Birthday, adapted from Bach's Prelude in C Major.

The concert hopes to convey a profound metaphor: that music flows not merely as musical notes, but as dialogue between civilizations. True commemoration resides not in nostalgic remembrance of the past, but in the continuous creation of legacy.

Performance info

Date: May 25, 7:30pm

Tickets: 180-680 yuan

Venue: Shangyin Opera House 上音歌剧院

Address: No. 6 Fenyang Rd 汾阳路6号