Debra Li

    debra_lidan@163.com

    SHENZHEN Concert Hall has scheduled four programs for children during its summer season that opens June 1, Children’s Day.

    On the morning and afternoon of June 1, Shanghai Light Music Orchestra will give performances featuring music from beloved animation movies and child-friendly Hollywood blockbusters. A piano and three synthesizers will provide gorgeous soundscapes, along with an electro-acoustic band, small orchestra and multimedia visuals.

    The program will include scores from “Kung Fu Panda,” “Ratatouille,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “My Life As Mcdul” and “The Pirates of the Caribbean.”

    A recital by young pianist Zuo Zhang will feature Beethoven’s “Piano Sonata No. 18,” Chopin’s “Sonata No. 3 in B Minor,” as well as Schulhoff’s jazz etudes and three arranged Chinese folk songs. Zuo is a student at Juilliard School who graduated from Shenzhen Arts School, and is a familiar name to locals.

    Also familiar to the local audience is the Shenzhen Senior High School Lily Children’s Choir. The pride of the city, the choir consists of teenage girls aged between 11 and 17. It has won numerous awards in singing contests, including first place at the 5th International Johannes Brahms Choir Competition in 2007. Their repertoire will include Chinese songs like “Jasmine Flower” and “Nanniwan” as well as foreign scores such as “Scarborough Fair.”

    Vocal fans will also embrace the local debut of the British cappella group The Songmen.

    Their program will feature a collection of jazz and pop songs together with folk and spiritual ballads, including many songs from the group’s CARA nominated album “Midnight.” Fans will be taken on a journey from folk and spirituals through 1920’s jazz, 1980’s soul and into the most current classic pop genre.

    For this series, tickets start at 60 yuan per person.