Daniel Harding and London Philharmonic Orchestra

Date: Feb 22-23 - 7:30 pm

Venue: NCPA

Price: 280-1,680 yuan

Daniel Harding is a British conductor. Harding was born in Oxford. He studied trumpet at Chetham's School of Music and was a member of the National Youth Orchestra at age 13. At age 17, Harding assembled a group of musicians to perform Pierrot Lunaire of Arnold Schoenberg, and sent a tape of the performance to Simon Rattle in Birmingham. After listening to this tape, Rattle hired Harding as an assistant to him at the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra for a year, from 1993-1994. Harding then attended the University of Cambridge, but after his first year at university, Claudio Abbado named him his assistant with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. Harding first conducted the Berlin Philharmonic at age 21. At the time of his first conducting appearance at The Proms in 1996, he was then the youngest-ever conductor to appear there. Harding has stated that he has never had formal conducting lessons. The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is one of five permanent symphony orchestras based in London. It was founded by the conductors Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a rival to the existing London Symphony and BBC Symphony Orchestras. The founders' ambition was to build an orchestra the equal of any European or American rival. Between 1932 and the World War II the LPO was widely judged to have succeeded in this regard. After the outbreak of war the orchestra's private backers withdrew and the players reconstituted the LPO as a self-governing cooperative.

Contact: 400-610-3721

Cristina Ortiz Piano Recital

Date: Feb 19 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 50-480 yuan

Cristina Ortiz' natural musicality, masterful craftsmanship and commitment to refined playing have ensured her a place among the most respected pianists in the world. Throughout her extensive career she has performed with the Berliner Philharmoniker, Wiener Philharmoniker, and the Chicago Symphony, Philharmonia and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras among many others. She has collaborated with conductors such as Neeme Jarvi, Mariss Jansons, Kurt Masur, Andre Previn and David Zinman. Ortiz' remarkable technique and acute sense of musical adventure is particularly evident in her wide-ranging repertoire. A popular artist with promoters and audiences around the world, she has recently worked with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra Sinfonica do Estado de Sao Paulo, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Haydn Orchestra Bolzano and Trento. Highlights in coming seasons include her debut with the Orquestra Filarmonica de Minas Gerais as well as a European tour with the Fine Arts Quartet to include Amsterdam's Concertgebouw.

Contact: 400-610-3721