The Kennedy Center will present its first Chinese New Year celebration, running Feb. 5-8, with a host of Chinese artists and musicians heading to D.C., to celebrate the Year of the Monkey.
“This festival is something that speaks to what the U.S. is all about. We are a nation of immigrants and part of what we do at the Kennedy Center are provide programs that reflect the diversity of arts and culture that exist from various immigrant populations, which is what made America strong,” says Alicia Adams, Kennedy Center’s VP for international programs. “We are interested in exposing the local community as much as we can to art and culture that they may not have had an opportunity to see.”
Things get underway on Friday at 6 p.m., when pop music artists from Shenzhen, including the band Jam You, female singers Tsinger and Majia Jiado, male singer Ray M, and rappers Too Phat hit the Millennium stage in a free concert.
A special Family Day will be held on Saturday beginning at 11 a.m., with highlights from Chinese culture on full display. Among the free activities will be Chinese paper cutting lessons, a Beijing Opera stage makeup demonstration and costume dress-up.
“There will be a number of family-themed activities including calligraphy, making Chinese masks and lots of fun things for the kids,” Adams says. “And since it’s the Year of the Monkey, there will be a monkey running around.”
Also on Family Day, 70 volunteers will be on hand to present tours of Kennedy Center, including 18 who give the tour in mandarin.
On Sunday, the Lily Girls’ Choir will sing on the Millennium Stage in a free concert. The group is comprised of students from Shenzhen Senior High School.
On the actual Chinese New Year Day (Feb. 8), the acclaimed Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra will perform at 8 p.m. (tickets required), as well as a group of featured soloists from China. This noteworthy list of performers includes tenor Yuqiang Dai, who was a student of Pavarotti and now tours with the Three Tenors from China; pianist Haochen Zhang, the 2009 Gold Medal winner in the International Van Cliburn competition; and Kunqu Opera artist Jun Zhang, a UNESCO Artist for Peace.
“Many of these performers are extraordinarily famous across the globe,” Adams says. “It’s going to be an exciting day.”
Haochen Zhang
In her position, Adams is responsible for curating all of the Kennedy Center’s international festivals and has traveled to China more than 20 times over the last 10 years for research and exploration of China’s culture and its artistic community.
“Since our China Festival in 2005, the Kennedy Center has continued to bring Chinese artists in dance and music and theater here,” she says. “In creating this Chinese New Year celebration, we were looking at ways to engage the local community—including university students, the embassy and local Chinese communities.”
Adams hopes that the celebration becomes an annual event at the Kennedy Center, and will continue to foster strong relationships with Chinese artists to make the event special.
“It’s very exciting to see what’s coming out of China,” she says. “In some ways, they are part of the keepers of the flame of Western classical music. It’s extraordinary the number of students that play instruments and occupy the seats in our conservatories in the U.S. and won major awards.”
For more information on the events or to purchase tickets for the Monday night concert, visit kennedy-center.org/calendar/series/CNY.
