New Haven Symphony Orchestra to host free kids concerts for Chinese Lunar New Year

The Year of the Dragon will be celebrated musically next month as the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s (NHSO) Family Series returns with a statewide tour of concerts for kids celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year.

The free concerts are programmed specifically for children ages 3-7, encouraging listening, playfulness, and participation throughout the interactive performance. Central to the concerts is an instrument that rarely turns up in Western symphonic concerts – the erhu is a two-stringed instrument played with a bow that is popular in China and East Asian countries that are influenced by Chinese culture.

On this 50-minute program, international erhu virtuoso Dr. Chia-Yu Joy Lu of Wesleyan University will play alongside a NHSO violinist Stephanie Hug and NHSO pianist William Braun. The concert’s music will include “Two Tigers,” “Thunder in a Drought,” “Joy & Happiness,” Grasshopper Tricks the Rooster, Beautiful Flowers and Full Moon, and more. While the music plays, a Chinese calligraphy artist will simultaneously hand-draw characters on a screen and families will have the opportunity to practice writing the characters in provided program books.

The concerts will be heard on Feb. 3 at 10:30 a.m. at Ansonia Public Library, on Feb. 3 at 3:00 p.m. at Plumb Library in Shelton; on Feb. 4 at 3:00 p.m. at Russell Library in Middletown, and Feb. 11 at 2:00 p.m. at Dr. Reginald Mayo Early Learning School in New Haven.

More details will be forthcoming on the New Haven Symphony Orchestra’s website, NewHavenSymphony.org and the Lunarfest website, YaleChina.org/Luanarfest.

Photo by Jim Nix / Flickr Creative Commons