Heading East

H E A D I N G E A S T

As the MSO’s Chinese New Year concert hits its 10-year anniversary, Patricia Maunder speaks to the dynamic David Li AM, one of the driving forces behind its success.

Globally recognised violinist Ning Feng enchants the audience.

Acelebration of Eastern and Western music, as well as Asian and Asian-Australian artists, the MSO’s East meets West program has become so integrated into its seasons that it’s easy to forget how exceptional it is. “We were the first Western orchestra in Australia to perform a Chinese New Year concert,” says MSO Chairman David Li AM. While this popular concept has been copied elsewhere from time to time, “we are also the only Orchestra that has been doing it every year consecutively.” For 10 years no less, even throughout the pandemic.

The Chinese New Year concert is the highlight of the MSO’s East meets West program, which Li has been closely involved with since it launched in 2014. The story begins the year prior, when the newly minted MSO board member was invited to a dinner in honour of Tan Dun, who was about to lead the Orchestra in a concert of his film scores. Asked if he was familiar with the Chinese-American composer and conductor, who won an Oscar for his Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon score, Li smiled and said: “Of course I know Tan Dun. We’ve been friends since we were young!” So perhaps the story truly began decades ago in China, before Li arrived in Australia in the 1980s as a young professional violinist.

After their joyful reunion and the concert’s success in 2013, Li asked Tan: “What about next year – can you join the MSO again?” And so the Chinese New Year concert was born, with the man who became an MSO Artistic Ambassador conducting regularly until the pandemic intervened.

Li, who in 2019 was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of his services to the performing arts, has also helped secure some of the world’s leading performers. “I have a good relationship with many Chinese artists – when I talk to them, they love to come over [to Melbourne],” he laughs.

CULTURAL EMBRACE

Over 30 Asian musicians and musical groups have performed as part of the East meets West program in the last seven years alone. This includes musicians trained in the Western classical tradition, such as MSO Artistic Ambassador Lü Siqing, who was the first Asian violinist to win the prestigious Paganini Competition. He played the ‘Miss Crespi’ 1699 Stradivari violin, on loan from Li, with the MSO. Then there are guests who have shaken things up at Hamer Hall, like Hanggai, a famous rock band from the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia.

According to Li, some artists have been embraced by orchestras around the world after making their orchestral debuts at MSO Chinese New Year concerts; popstar and longtime Tan Dun collaborator Tan Weiwei, for example, who he says is “like Madonna in China” after her rise to popularity in the 2006 reality singing competition Super Girl, and Liu Wenwen, who plays the suona, a traditional Chinese woodwind instrument.

In concerts throughout each season, the broader East meets West program has also showcased acclaimed artists from across Asia, including South Korean pianist Joyce Yang, Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi, Chinese pianist Lang Lang, and the MSO’s ChineseAmerican Principal Guest Conductor Xian Zhang.

Asian-Australians such as Melbourne-born violin prodigy and MSO Young Artist in Association, Christian Li, have also featured prominently, especially during the pandemic’s travel restrictions.

Wherever it looks for talent and inspiration, the program has always been about “building bridges”, says Li. “When the East meets West program began 10 years ago, much of its focus was on curating an artful blend of Eastern and Western musical influences and traditions into an inspiring program for a diverse audience. The underlying objective, then as now, is to build mutual respect and understanding between Australians and our Asian neighbours.”

That has been achieved not only through East meets West concerts at home, but also recent tours of China and Indonesia and partnerships with organisations such as the Singapore Symphony

Famous Inner Mongolian band Hanggai shaking things up MSO Chairman, David Li AM

Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi in action; left: MSO Artistic Ambassador and violinist Lü Siqing performing on stage

“THE UNDERLYING OBJECTIVE, THEN AS NOW, IS TO BUILD MUTUAL RESPECT AND UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN AUSTRALIANS AND OUR ASIAN NEIGHBOURS.”

Orchestra and Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts. In 2019, the MSO won the AustCham Westpac Australia-China Business Award for Business Innovation, Creative Industries and the Digital Economy. As well as government, industry and artistic support, the East meets West program has been funded by a consortium of over 50 corporate partners and private donors since starting in 2013.

The Chinese New Year concerts – which have been seen by a global audience of over 240 million people over the past 10 years – “always receive messages of congratulations from the Prime Minister, the Premier and the Chinese Ambassador,” says Li proudly.

The 2023 concert, which celebrates the Year of the Rabbit, looks to Victoria’s sister state of Sichuan. The Sichuan Orchestra of China’s renowned Chinese-Singaporean chief conductor, Darrell Ang, will join the MSO.

The program includes excerpts from Chinese composer Ye Xiaogang’s Sichuan Image. “For Chinese New Year we want to listen to nice, beautiful music, not high-tension music,” says Li with a laugh, so he considers this work, inspired by Sichuan’s splendid natural scenery, ideal. The program’s other beautiful compositions include Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Suite and Evolution by Chinese-Australian Julian Yu.

Other East meets West highlights include German violinist ClaraJumi Kang in two concerts in March: Brahms’ Violin Concerto, and Summons and Signals. “She’s a global superstar,” says Li. “This is her first time in Australia. She’s always in very high demand, so we’ve never had the opportunity to bring her here before.”

Australian artists include the Winter Gala’s star, violinist and Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia lister Ray Chen, and cellist and 2002 Young Australian of the Year Li-Wei Qin. Twice a soloist at both BBC Proms and MSO Chinese New Year concerts, Qin wields his bow in A Snapshot in Time: Elgar’s Cello Concerto. Christian Li, who signed with Decca Classics at age 12 in 2020, returns in April for Northern Reflections: Sibelius and Shostakovich and Prodigies (Melbourne and Geelong) in September.

“The East meets West program is part of the MSO’s DNA,” says Li, whose relationships in the music, business and diplomatic worlds, and personal philanthropic contributions, have been instrumental to the program’s success.

“It’s important that the Orchestra isn’t just a music organisation,” he adds. “We also play another role, by trying to build up relationships through cultural exchange. We’re ambassadors for the arts and for Australia.” ■

The MSO’s 2023 East meets West program begins with the Chinese New Year concert on Saturday 4 February at Hamer Hall.