Past Work

For Melody of China’s bio, mission and a description of recent activities, please see “About Melody of China”. Among many other projects, Melody of China has developed a series of educational programs geared toward elementary and high school students. Since 1993, Melody of China has visited nearly a hundred schools and institutions around the Bay Area. In addition, it has given hundreds of workshops and lectures, many of which have been incorporated into the multi-cultural curriculum of local school districts. Many of these programs are done in collaboration with the Young Audiences of the Bay Area, the Young Audiences of Silicon Valley & San Jose, Young Imaginations, and Education Division of the Music Center of Los Angeles County, and Adventures in Music of San Francisco Symphony’s Educational Division, several non-profit, multi-cultural arts education agencies. Melody of China musicians have also performed internationally in many festivals.

They have had engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic as well as the San Francisco Symphony and appeared in domestic and international festivals. MOC also joined CityWinds’ annual concert, where they performed world premieres of new works by five composers. Since 1997, MOC has produced its own annual concerts in San Francisco. Included among its past productions: “ Thundering Drums“, Two Suites: “Shi Jing Suite ” and “Silk Road Suite” concerto (composed by Yuanlin Chen) and premiered in San Francisco; “ Double Concerto for the Erhu & Yangqin” (composed by Gang Situ) with the Women’s Philharmonic; and “Thundering Across the Sky ” (composed by Yuanlin Chen) with newly commissioned works by composers Kui Dong, Duo Huang, Bingyan Li and mainland China composer Mingguan Zhu. Recently, MOC received grants from the James Irvine Foundation and Meet the Composer. In 2006, MOC collaborated with the Del Sol String Quartet to perform a series of four concerts, entitled “Four Seasons “, in San Francisco and other California cities. Two commissioning works were performed as world premieres in the San Francisco Bay Area by prominent composer Dr. Kui Dong and freelance composer Duo Huang. Melody of China has also produced two New Music Concerts: one at Old First Church in May 2007 and one at the Mountain View Community School of Arts and Music in August 2007. New works were premiered by young composers Eric Myers, Alan Chan, Bik Lee and MOC’s residence composer Dawei Wang. MOC’s programs have been funded through grants by the California Arts Council, Chamber Music America, Grants for the Arts/San Francisco Hotel Tax Fund, San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Fund, Meet the Composer Fund, Silkroad Foundation as well as support by other private companies and individual donors.

As a recipient of the grants, Melody of China collaborated with a local music group, the San Francisco Guitar Quartet, to produce “Double Concerto and Mixed Sound ” concert in October 2007. The SF Guitar Quartet and Melody of China’s four Chinese lutes will perform a freshly composed double concerto by composer Gang Situ, the Electronics with Mixed Ensemble, a newly composed work by Yuanlin Chen, will be performed at the annual concert and at touring concerts on the east coast. The Third Annual “Three Sound” Experimental Music Concert, a contemporary music event, will be held in San Francisco and the South Bay. Through these collaborations, MOC is seeking new ways to explore new sounds with Chinese traditional instruments and music.