Year of the Dragon Chinese New Year Celebration at China Blossom
On Sunday, January 29th, 2012 from 4:00PM to 7:00PM, China Blossom and the Andover Chinese Cultural Exchange (ACCE) will celebrate the Chinese New Year with a festival sponsored by Yang’s Martial Arts. The Chinese New Year celebration is centuries old and the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. More than anything, the Chinese New Year is a time to bring family together for feasting and celebration, and China Blossom will highlight this with authentic cuisine as well as various Asian traditions.
Guests will indulge in a dim sum buffet while they enjoy butt-kicking gong fu (kung fu) and lion dance demonstrations, as well as traditional Chinese dances and live cultural music. World-renowned player Zhan-tao Lin will wow the crowd with the Er-hu, which is similar to a violin with an exception of two strings. Lin is a professional musician from China who has won many competitions and performs broadly in the New England area, including at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Ma. In addition, celebrated musician Shin-Yi Yang is sure to please with the Gu-zheng, an ancient Chinese instrument that has strings that are plucked like a guitar’s. Yang is the founder of the Boston Guzheng Ensemble and the two-time winner of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship given by the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s Folk Arts and Heritage Program. After you’ve had your fill of live entertainment, get the whole family involved with calligraphy and children’s crafts. Don’t go home empty handed! There will be giveaways all evening!
Schedule of Events
Ongoing:
Calligraphy with the Chinese American Fine Arts Society of Boston
Boston Chinese Calligraphy Association
Children’s Crafts
Live Performances
4:00pm – 6:00pm:
Lion Dance
Chinese Folk Dance Group
Gong Fu (Kung Fu) from Yang’s Martial Arts
Er-hu (Chinese Violin) Performance from Zhan-tao Lin
Gu-Zheng (Zither) Performance from Shin-Yi Yang
Chinese New Year Sing-Along
Dinner
6:00PM – 7:00PM:
Buffet dinner featuring traditional dim sum
Tickets & Reservations
Tickets are $25 per person (Senior and children pricing is available: Seniors, $20, Under 11, $15, Under 5, $9). Proceeds will benefit the ACCE, a non-profit community group dedicated to introducing Chinese culture. ACCE provides educational opportunities and support for charitable causes in the Merrimack Valley.
Seating is limited. Please reserve early by calling Richard SooHoo, President of ACCE, at 978-470-2293 or email richsoohoo@aol.com.
About Zhan-tao Lin
Zhan-tao Lin is a professional musician and music educator from China. Mr. Lin was an assistant professor at the Guangxi Arts Institute and the board member of Chinese professional Er-hu player’s guild in China. Mr. Lin has won many competitions and was recognized in the Who’s Who of Chinese Education. Since immigrating to the US, Mr. Lin has been performing broadly in the New England Area including Sanders Theater at Harvard University, MIT, Boston University, Museum of Fine Arts, Peabody Essex Museum, Children’s Museum, the Boston Public Library, the Lincoln Center in New York, and recently at a concert given by the Alcyon Chamber Ensemble. He has also participated at Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project exchange program.
Mr. Lin will be performing two pieces: 賽馬 (Racing Horses) and 空山鳥語 (Birds Singing on a Tranquil Mountain) at the Chinese New Year Celebration at China Blossom.
About Shin-Yi Yang
Shin-Yi Yang is a professional guqin and guzheng player. She is the founder of the Boston Guzheng Ensemble and two-time recipient of the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship award, given by the Massachusetts Cultural Council in the Folk Arts and Heritage Program category. She received the Chinese Culture Connection Award in 2008 and has been interviewed by the WGBH radio station in a program called “Arts and Ideas”. Ms. Yang is a musician who enjoys both ethnic and contemporary music. As a well-known ethnic musician in the greater Boston area, she has given performances and lectures in several colleges such as Berklee College of Music, Boston University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New England Conservatory, Yale University, Kentucky University as well as a variety of museums and many elementary and high schools. She also hosts “Meditative Guqin Gathering” in the greater Boston area to promote traditional Chinese guqin music and culture. As a contemporary musician, Ms. Yang has given premieres of new compositions and has participated in various new projects with other contemporary artists. She has performed and concert toured with the IIIZ+ to France and performed at the 38e Rugissants Festival. Ms. Yang has been a residence artist of the Chinese Cultural Connection, a local organization that promotes Chinese culture since 2000.
Shin-Yi currently provides instructions at the Greater Boston Chinese Cultural Association (GBCCA) and the Huaxin School of Arts. She also gives private instructions for both instruments. Artist website, www.shinyiyang.com.
