Showcasing the Grandeur of China, Resounding the Colors of Zhejiang | The Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra's Original Symphonic Suite "Colorful Zhejiang" Makes Its Official Debut

On June 26th, the "Colorful Zhejiang" original symphony concert by the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra was brilliantly performed at the Zhejiang Concert Hall. The orchestra officially premiered the symphonic suite "Colorful Zhejiang," which was selected for the 2022 major thematic creation of stage art in Zhejiang Province and the National Art Fund's 2024 large-scale stage play and work creation funding project. The work, commissioned by the orchestra, was composed by Zhou Xianglin, Weng Chigang, Guo Ming, Wen Ziyang, and the resident composer Wang Tianming, Wu Na. It consists of eleven music pieces with rich musical colors and various artistic styles, using music as a language and "brush" to vividly depict the landscapes, historical and cultural heritage, and the vigorous development of eleven iconic regions in Zhejiang Province. Together, they create a colorful and hopeful picture of the customs of the land of Zhejiang, showcasing the Chinese style with symphonic language.

At the performance, under the precise and unrestrained direction of conductor Zhang Yi, the spirited orchestra musicians played with full emotion, interpreting this original work that actively promotes the spirit of Zhejiang and shows the new era of the province, making it as poetic and picturesque as a poem, allowing the audience to feel the beauty of Zhejiang's landscapes, culture, and development through the artistic language.

The combination of sound and image, integrating tradition with modernity.

As videos showcasing the unique natural scenery and regional culture of eleven iconic areas in the province were displayed on the screens on both sides of the stage, the representative traditional culture, natural scenery, and folk customs of Zhejiang were fully presented to the audience. The rich and diverse music pieces immersed people deeply in the charm of this land: the rippling waves of South Lake in Jiaxing, a red boat stirring up the strong sound of establishing a new China and developing the homeland; the surging waves, the port of Ningbo reaching the four seas, the vigorous drum beats and gongs conveying people's aspirations; the historical and cultural city of Jinhua, in the performance of violist Wang Yang and the orchestra, radiates a mysterious and vivid cultural color; the multi-rhythmic She Township, a shining pearl of the beautiful landscape of Lishui, the lively and clever melody seems to reproduce the happy life of the She people singing and dancing; "Ink into painting, living by the river" of Shaoxing's music section, like a cup of mellow yellow wine, with a thick and distant humanistic atmosphere, soaking people's hearts, and the lively debut of the opera elements adds a fresh touch; the solemn and magnificent music depicts the city of Quzhou, the sacred land of Confucianism with a long cultural heritage and a grand Confucian atmosphere, in a very detailed way; the orchestra plays a beautiful and atmospheric melody, showing the beauty of the harmonious culture of Taizhou; the bamboo sea stretches, the percussionists Zhao Hang and Xi Hang play the melody on the marimba like the sound of dancing bamboo forest, allowing people to feel the fresh poetry of Huzhou; the rough and heroic fisherman's songs and gongs and drums, with distinctive Zhoushan characteristics and life atmosphere; the bridge rises over the Ou River, the most iconic melody of Wenzhou, vividly depicting the history of a city's changes and a dream of chasing the wind; the south of the great river has a unique scenery, Hangzhou West Lake is unparalleled in the world, the vibrant land of Hangzhou is full of poetic and picturesque in the musical picture, and also contains the infinite hope of development.

Assisting in promotion, domestic experts gather for discussion.

In response to this performance, the Art Department of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, and the Zhejiang Provincial Institute for Cultural and Tourism Development organized the "Colorful Zhejiang" 2022 Zhejiang Province Stage Art Major Thematic Creation Unveiling and Leading Project Mid-term Acceptance Seminar, with 5 well-known experts in the province and representatives of the main creative team of the orchestra attending the meeting, presided over by Jiang Zhongqi, the vice chairman of the Zhejiang Literature and Art Critics Association. The orchestra organized the National Art Fund 2024 Large-scale Stage Play and Work Creation Funding Project Expert Seminar, with the first-level inspector of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Diao Yuquan, 15 specially invited experts, 6 composers, Zhang Yi, the director, and the leaders of the orchestra attending the meeting, presided over by Guo Yijiang, the secretary and head of the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, to deeply discuss the symphonic suite "Colorful Zhejiang" and help polish and improve the work.

Guo Yijiang, the head of the orchestra, first introduced the orchestra's active exploration and practice in creation in recent years, pointing out that the planning and creation of the original suite "Colorful Zhejiang" started with "looking up at the stars" and taking the initiative, responding to the call of the provincial party committee, the provincial government, and the provincial department of culture and tourism to closely build a high-level cultural province, create a new era of cultural highland, focus on the continuation of cultural context, cultural and tourism industry, literary and artistic innovation, and cultural welfare, actively promote the spirit of Zhejiang, publicize the appearance of the province, and help the new development of the new era; the second is to be down-to-earth and go deep into the local area. In recent years, Zhejiang has been committed to creating a "regional music chain" provincial and local cooperation brand and a "travel with music" cultural and tourism integration brand. "Colorful Zhejiang" is a work with this theme, striving to achieve cultural dissemination, music assistance, gathering people's hearts, and joint promotion in the process of performance and promotion.

At the seminar, the first-level inspector of the Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, Diao Yuquan, pointed out that creation and performance are the foundation of the orchestra, and he is very pleased to see the growth of the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra every year. "Colorful Zhejiang" fully embodies the word "colorful," presenting the beautiful mountains and waters, and the humanistic style of Zhejiang very well, both established and successful. The creative mode of combining three generations of composers is very good, the grasp of Zhejiang's cultural characteristics is very accurate, and one can hear the composers' heartfelt expressions.

More than 10 well-known domestic experts and Zhang Yi, the director, and composers also put forward and published wonderful opinions and evaluations on the work and performance: "Colorful Zhejiang" stands from the perspective of music and the forefront of the times, presenting Zhejiang's cultural content, humanistic spirit, and cultural character, with both a unified vision and individualized expressions; the work is very suitable for the cultural gene activation project, activating and interpreting the elements of various places in Zhejiang through the form of symphony, not only having the concept of colorful Zhejiang, but also embodying poetic and picturesque Zhejiang, humanistic Zhejiang, and modern Zhejiang, with clear themes and distinct elements, showing market potential; the 11 pieces of music are a fusion of color and emotion, the work is high-standing, profound in thought, and the music is high and the public; Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra has a good play, "Colorful Zhejiang" depicts the appearance of Zhejiang's high-quality construction of a common prosperity demonstration zone with music, and it is also hoped that this work can become a model in the original symphony works; Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra's purpose of establishing the group is to establish the group with works, and it can be seen that the orchestra is determined to create artistic masterpieces, and the state of the band is also very good, wishing the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra to develop better and better; Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra's artistic planning has a full process operation and execution, accumulating a set of mature experience; collective creation is not easy, but this work has achieved a combination of thematic and contemporary, tradition and modernity; "Colorful Zhejiang" is very eye-catching, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra is at the forefront of the country in terms of producing works and cultivating talents, this work has a good theme and intention, the combination of music is diverse, making the whole work rich and colorful, and the consistency of thought and art is achieved; the work pays attention to elegance and popularization, resonating with the public, as a person from Zhejiang, I feel very proud to see the performance of Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra; the regional color contained in this work shows the style of Zhejiang, highlighting the brilliance of Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, and all the performers in the performance have a love for art and a sincere heart in playing, and the professional spirit is admirable and touching.

Looking forward to the future, the symphonic suite "Colorful Zhejiang" will also be performed on July 12th at the Hangzhou Canal Grand Theater and on July 16th at the National Grand Theater, as an important piece of the Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra's "15th Anniversary Group Celebration Concert," please look forward to it.