The Savannah Philharmonic is slated to present a special “Chinese New Year Treasures” concert as part of its chamber series at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 16, 2018. This concert will be held at Esther F. Garrison’s Yamacraw Center for the Performing Arts, 649 W. Jones St., Savannah. 

In another exploration of international cultures, Savannah Philharmonic principal violinist LiZhou Liu will lead musicians in a performance celebrating the Chinese New Year and Chinese culture. The audience will be in for a cultural treat as the Savannah Philharmonic celebrates the international holiday with performances of “Scent of Night, “Deep Friendship,” “Spring Festival Overture,” “Joy of New Year,” and more, with special guest narrator, Qiwei Sun. Following the concert there will be a Chinese New Year reception, free to concert attendees, the reception will feature traditional Chinese food sponsored by BWL Music Strings and the Chu family.

The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is originally tied to the lunar-solar Chinese calendar. Traditionally, the holiday is a time to honor household and heavenly deities as well as ancestors – in addition to bringing family together for feasting.

“This concert will be an exciting event for many reasons – not only will this chamber concert be presented during a special day and time, but we also hope to involve the Chinese community of Savannah with this New Year celebration,” Liu said. “Community outreach is extremely important to our organization and we are looking forward to reaching out to the Chinese community and celebrating the culture!”

LiZhou Liu earned his B.A. degree from The Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China, where he studied viola with Cen Yuan Ding, Situ Huacheng and Sui Kequiang. He received his Master’s degree from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. LiZhou’s prizes include first place in the 1988 SUNY Concerto Competition, performing “Der Shwanendreher” with the Stony Brook Orchestra. He also won the “Menuhin Prize” at the Portsmouth International Quartet Competition in 1982. LiZhou has held positions as Assistant Professor of Viola at Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music and served as principal viola with Beijing Chamber Orchestra and Tchaikovsky Chamber Orchestra in New York. As a soloist, he performed modern composer Chen Yi’s viola concerto, “Xian Shi” with the Beijing Film Orchestra, the Central Opera Orchestra and the Central Philharmonic in China. In 2000, he performed Don Quixote with Yo Yo Ma and the Savannah Symphony. Currently he is principal viola with the Hilton Head Orchestra in addition of to the Savannah Philharmonic.

Esther F. Garrison’s Yamacraw Center for the Performing Arts opened in November 2017. The new performance hall is a state-of-the-art facility, which can accommodate an audience of nearly 600 and includes a modern sound control room, a 3,251-square-foot performance stage and lighting, theater and band classrooms, a piano lab, chorus classroom, set-design space and a box office.

Tickets to this concert cost $25 each and can be purchased by visiting www.savannahboxoffice.com. To learn more about this concert or the Savannah Philharmonic, please visit www.savannahphilharmonic.org, email [email protected], or call 912-232-6002.