A Celebration of Chinese Music, Art and Culture
The Confucius Institute at the University of Sheffield (SCI) is excited to partner with University of Sheffield Concerts and student organisers from the University of Sheffield's Department of Music to deliver this celebration of Chinese culture. Read on to find out more about the special pre-show, pop-up stalls and activities that the SCI will organise and about the talent on the main stage for the main performance.
Pre-Show - 5:15pm - 5:45pm
Confucius Institute Chinese Cultural Workshops and Exhibitions
The Sheffield Confucius Institute will deliver a range of engaging activities exploring Chinese culture through arts and activities stalls before the main show. Want to try your hand at calligraphy, Chinese painting or the Chinese zither (guzheng)? Our teachers, volunteers and representatives will all be on hand to show you the ropes!
What to expect...
Chinese calligraphy
Chinese calligraphy is an ancient and beautiful art form. With a style unique to Chinese characters, Chinese calligraphy uses different types of strokes created in a specific order to create words.
Our teachers will also explain the meaning of different characters and you’ll learn how to write names and popular Chinese sayings and expressions, creating pieces to take home with you.
All materials will be provided.
Chinese Tea Ceremony
There are many people who love tea, but few people who understand tea. In Chinese culture, tea takes almost a supernatural quality, and its many varieties and depths of flavour are a joy around the world.
The tea ceremony experience will allow you to try a selection of teas and our experts will discuss the ingredients, flavours and meaning behind each tea in a ceremony unique to Chinese culture.
Chinese Music Workshop (Guzheng)
The guzheng is a beautiful stringed instrument also known as the Chinese zither. Its haunting melodies are instantly recognisable and associated with the beauty of Chinese culture and music.
Our talented guzheng players will play some classic pieces and there will be a chance to try your hand at playing yourself.
Main Show - 5:45pm - 6:30pm
Music and Performances
The Firth Hall stage will be filled with wonderful musical acts and performances, both solo and with ensemble. Performances will be inspired entirely by classical and modern Chinese music and dance, with dance routines performed by the Wanlin Academy of Dance. They’ll be everything from piano and violin performances to traditional Chinese music performances.
INTERVIEW - Ye Rao and Jiahou Yang
We sat down with Ye Rao and Jiahou Yang, two music students at the University of Sheffield who are performing in the show, to ask them about their performances.
Ye Rao
Ye Rao is an MA student and major in Music Performance in the music department of the university.
Jiahou Yang
Jiahou Yang is a music student from China, his undergraduate studies took place at the Xi'an Conservatory of Music and he is currently a postgraduate candidate in Music Performance at the University of Sheffield.
What is the Chinese heritage Concert trying to achieve?
Ye Rao
This concert wants to present the audience with an excellent concert that explores our Chinese traditional music and art. We also want to show the charm of Chinese culture and art.
Jiahou Yang
We want to promote Chinese traditional music and show the audience the beauty of Chinese traditional music through different representative pieces.
Tell us about your music and performance – what great things should we expect on the day!?
Ye Rao
I will take part in one instrument program and two choral programs. The first program I will play is Big Fish which is a piano and saxophone duet. This song is from the Big Fish and Begonia movie episode and is very popular in China. And I will also sing in the chorus for two songs in the last two programs of the concert. I think it’s an interesting thing for me to do as a pianist.
Jiahou Yang
I will be taking part in three programmes on the day of the concert. The second programme, Big Fish, is an instrumental ensemble where I will be performing a piece by a Chinese composer on the saxophone, a Western instrument, which I believe is a very interesting way of interpreting the piece, and I will also be taking part in two choral programmes.
Date: 15 March 2023
Time: 5:15 - 6:30pm
Location: Firth Hall, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN
FREE - Seats are first come, first served.
Contact: confucius@sheffield.ac.uk
Thank you for reading!
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