Concert of zhongruan

Young Chinese zhongruan player Xue Miao will collaborate with her teacher Xu Yang, pianist Qian Weixiang and percussionist Li Shang to give a night of crossover music.

The zhongruan is a Chinese plucked string instrument which is usually played with a plectrum. It can also be played with fingers, which is similar to the way the pipa is played. The zhongruan is a tenor-ranged instrument in the family of ruan. The modern ruan family has expanded to different sizes and the zhongruan is the medium one.

Xue has won many awards in China, South Korea and Singapore during her studies at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Xu is a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Central Conservatory of Music. She has been the judge of the Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music, Wenhua Award of the Cultural Ministry, the National Occupational Skill Competition of the Ministry of Education and the CCTV Grand Prix.

Time: 8 p.m., Oct. 29

Tickets: 80-480 yuan

Symphonies

Singaporean conductor Darrell Ang will lead the Sichuan Symphony Orchestra to play several Chinese symphonies featuring Sichuan culture and folk music and Mahler’s “Symphony No. 4.” Chinese cellist Mo Mo and soprano Zhang Meigui will also be featured at the concert.

As a teenager, Ang followed his musical dream to Vienna, and then to St. Petersburg where he studied conducting under the tutelage of Leonid Korchmar in the grand tradition of the legendary Ilya Musin. Under the tutelage of Shinik Hahm, Ang continued his studies at Yale.

He took all three top awards at the 50th Besancon International Young Conductors’ Competition, leading to the music directorship of the Orchestre Symphonique de Bretagne (2012-2015).

Three years later, Ang was selected to join the prestigious International Conductors’ Academy of the Allianz Cultural Foundation and invited to take on residencies with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Time: 8 p.m., Oct. 30

Tickets: 80-680 yuan

Piano recital

Chinese pianist Tan Xiaotang, who is an associate professor at Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, will play four great piano sonatas by Beethoven: “Moonlight,” “Waldstein,” “Pastorale” and “Appassionata.”

The 32 piano sonatas by Beethoven together form one of the most vital bodies of work in the instrument’s history. They span most of their composer’s life, with each of his compositional phases; and they are closely linked to the development of the piano, reflecting the increasing range and power of the instruments at his disposal.

Best of all, Beethoven does not repeat himself; in every sonata he fuses structure with content and character in a unique way.

“Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major, Op. 53,” known as “Waldstein,” is one of the three most notable sonatas of his middle period. Completed in the summer of 1804 and surpassing Beethoven’s previous piano sonatas in its scope, “Waldstein” is a key early work of Beethoven’s “Heroic” period and set a standard for piano composition in the grand manner.

“Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp Minor, Op. 27, No. 2” was completed in 1801 and dedicated in 1802 to Beethoven’s pupil, Countess Giulietta Guicciardi. The popular name “Moonlight” is from a critic’s remark made after Beethoven’s death.

“Piano Sonata No. 15 in D Major, Op. 28” is generally admired for its intricate technicality as well as for its beauty. The name “Pastorale” became known through the publishing of Beethoven’s work by A. Cranz, but was first coined by a London publisher, Broderip & Wilkinson.

“Piano Sonata No. 23 in F Minor, Op. 57” is among the three famous piano sonatas of his middle period; it was composed during 1804 and 1805, and perhaps 1806, and was dedicated to Count Franz von Brunswick. Beethoven hated the nickname “Appassionata” because it in no way describes the brooding and tragic nature of the sonata, evident from its very first notes.

Time: 8 p.m., Oct. 31

Tickets: 120-480 yuan

Booking: WeChat account “szyyt_piao”

Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall, Futian District (福田区深圳音乐厅)

Metro: Line 3 or 4 to Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit D(SD News)