2011 Hawaii Chinese International Cultural Arts Festival!

The Hawaii Chinese Arts Wushu Cultural Center presents
2011 HAWAII CHINESE INTERNATIONAL CULTURAL ARTS FESTIVAL
July 29, 2010
Friday: 7: 30 pm
Blaisdell Concert Hall
Tickets:
$65, $ 35, $25 and $ 18 (does not includes $1 Blaisdell Concert Hall restoration fee)

The Chinese Arts, Wu Shu and Cultural Center, a non-profit organization, is hosting the 2011 Hawaii Chinese International Cultural Arts Festival. The event will showcase a variety of western and Chinese arts performed by professionals. It is aimed at enriching and introducing the Chinese cultural arts to the Hawaii community. Western，Ballroom, Middle Eastern, Hawaiian, and Chinese dance along with classical and folk music performed by band, voice, 5 piano ensemble, violin, cello, solo piano, piano trio, erhu and piano ensemble. There will be singing featured, with songs in Mandarin, the official dialect of China, and Shanghainese, the dialect of Shanghai, and there will also be a tai chi performance. This performance will be hosted by Irwin Jiang, Christina Liu, Selena Qiu and Stanley Chang. The performance will be at the Blaisdell Concert Hall on July 29 at 7:30 pm.
Irwin Jiang is the president of the Hawaii Chinese Arts Wushu Cultural Center. He is a full scholarship student of Enrique Graf studying piano performance at College of Charleston. In this event, he will be playing a trio with Elaine Lu and Pauline Bai. Irwin started piano at the age of 4. He was a student of Ellen Masaki for 11 years before going to college after graduating from Saint Louis High School. He will lead 10 of Ellen Masaki’s former students to play in a 5 piano ensemble. He has placed 1st in the Aloha International Piano Festival, Young Artist level. He was also a recipient of the Morning Music Club scholarship and has earned awards in MTNA-Hawaii competitions. He has performed in the Young Artist Series at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and has also played with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, he was an Alternate at the MTNA-South Carolina Young Artist Competition. Irwin has appeared on “From the Top”, a program on NPR that showcases young classical musicians. Last summer, he went to Italy to perform with the Solisti di Perugia Symphony by invitation. This year he performed again in the Young Artist Series at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.

Christina Liu graduated from Iolani School with the class of 2011. She will be going to Harvard University. She would like to become an Oncologist and open a non-profit clinic in rural China. She is volunteering at the Queens Medical Center and with Key Club International. She has been attending volleyball and basketball as a Chinese translator for visiting teams. She likes to play violin, swim, and go hiking with friends. She is also a math and science tutor.
Selena Qiu graduated from Hawaii Pacific University with master’s degree in marine biology. She is currently employed by AECOM as an environmental scientist. Selena enjoys singing, dancing , swimming, and reading. She placed first in the Chinatown Narcissus Pageant in 2010.

Stanley Chang is the 4th district city council member. After attending Iolani for middle and high school he graduated at the top of his class and earned scholarships to attend Harvard. He worked at SonyBMG in New York for a year before practicing private law.
He has served on the boards of on the Organization of Chinese Americans, the Kahala Community Association, the Chinatown Business and Community Association, the Harvard Club of Hawaii, and Family Promise.

Elaine Lu started her violin lessons at age of 8. When she was 12 years old, she was accepted to the middle school of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. She has attended masterclasses with cellist Yo-Yo Ma. After graduating in 1986, Elaine came to the USA to continue her music education at the School of Music at the University of Oregon. She served as an Assistant Concertmaster for the Eugene Symphony Orchestra and Opera. Elaine performed as a soloist with the Oregon Mozart Player in 1999. She was a violinist throughout Northern California and she played with the San Francisco Opera Tour Company, the Sacramento Philharmonic, and the Napa Valley Symphony Orchestra. She has joined Honolulu Symphony since 2008.

Ping Bai started playing the cello at age eight. When she was thirteen she won the third prize at the First National Youth Cello Competition in Beijing, China. In 1992 she also played with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. She was the cellist of the Shanghai String Quartet at the International Festival of Chamber Music and Ensemble Music in Lyon, France during the summer of 1991, including String Quartet Master Classes with Prof. Alain Meunier (Conservatoire de Paris). In 1992 and 1993.She received her Bachelor and Master of Music degree from the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory as a holder of the Outstanding Performance Scholarship. In 1997, she came to America and continued her advanced studies with Eleanore Schoenfeld in Los Angeles and studied with Rajan Krishnaswami in Seattle. She played with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra, while studying with Rod McGrath, the former Associate Principal Cellist of the London Symphony Orchestra and Principal Cellist of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. Since the 2001-2002 season she has been playing cello with the Honolulu Symphony.
Amy Tan is from Malaysia. She is a student of Enrique Graf at College of Charleston. Amy has a diploma in piano performance from the London College of Music. Amy is a recipient of several scholarships at the college of Charleston, including the Edwin Davis Peacock and Virginia Zeigler Potter scholarships. Amy Tan and Chee-Hang establish Tan and See Piano Duo. The repertoire which emphasizes lesser – heard 20th century pieces from composers such as Astor PIazzolla, Dmitri Shostakovich, Francis Poulenc and Amy Beach is striking when juxtaposed with their other pieces from earlier composers such as Mozart, Liszt and Saint-Saëns. By introducing pieces outside the mainstream, Amy and Chee–Hang engage their audiences in a sensatory diaiogue, communicating their appreciation of music from its history to its interpretation. They performed at Music Fest Perugia 2010 in Perugia and Spoleto, Italy. They also performed at the Young Artist Series at the College. They will perform in Singapore, Chicago and Hawaii in this summer.

The Erhu is a Chinese instrument and is called a two string violin. Chee-Hang is from Singapore. He is a student of Enrique Graf studying piano performance at College of Charleston. He started studying the erhu at the age of 17 with Zhang Yu Ming. In four years he received a performance certificate from Singapore University. Chee-Hang is very active in Singapore. In 2007, Zhang Yu Ming conducted the JinHua Philharmonic with Chee-Hang performing as the erhu soloist. The JinHua Philharmonic is very well-known in Asia. Chee-Hang also arranged music for the JinHua Philharmonic which they perform regularly. Several of his arrangements won awards from the Singapore Arts Board.

Nancy Huang is a soprano who uses her beautiful voice to present Chinese folk songs and also songs from her native Shanghai. Hedy Ramtey is a dancer who will be presenting the elegant “peacock dance” of China, dressed in a fantastic outfit. Fang Wen, Bonita Zhou, Selena Qiu, Zhang Quan, and Angela Chang will be presenting Tibetan folk dances paired with music. These dances present a good luck gift, a blessed white cloth, to their audience.
Yanna Samkova and her studio will be performing ballroom dances. She is a former US and World dance champion. She will be presenting a Paso – Doble and Rumba while her studio will be performing a Bolero, a Swing dance, and a Salsa.

Mailia Delapenia and her company, Belly Dancers in Paradise, will be performing for this event. Malia has been hailed as the top reputable Middle Eastern dance performer in Hawaii. Her company has performed in many different functions and events, including the Pro Show for the Las Vegas Belly Dance Intensive, and the Carnival of Stars in Richmond, CA.

Kawika Trask will bring the warmth of Hawaiian music to our event. His 10 person ensemble will also feature hula dancers, presenting another side of their musical story.
The Saint Louis Band will be also be performing. Bret Shimabuku will be performing self-written songs along with his sister, Janae. The two of them have formed their own duo, “The Waves”.

Martial-artist Qong Yu Lin has won many wushu competitions in China. She will be performing a tai-chi form along with her students.
We hope that all will enjoy the fun and variety that we will be presenting on July 29 at the Neal Blaisdell Concert Hall.
We would like the community to be more interested in the Chinese Culture after this event. We would like to share and be more involved in the community. At the center, we will have teachers that will provide the opportunity to learn the arts performed. This year’s event wishes to bring attention to many different cultural arts. We are hoping to continue this as an annual summer event, bringing in more cultures and performers to acquaint and delight the Hawaii community with high quality exhibitions of many different arts and cultures. The Hawaii Chinese Arts Wushu Cultural Center would like to bring the charm of China’s 5000 year old culture to the local community. The Center will be offering Chinese dance and vocal choir lessons to the community. If you are interested, please email us with your name and telephone number to awchawaii@gmail.com. You may also be interested in visiting our website at https://awchawaii.wordpress.com.

We would like to thank the Overseas Mainland Chinese Association. That association has supported and helped the HCAWCC plan the 2011 Hawaii Chinese International Cultural Arts Festival. We are very grateful for their help and hard work.

This performance showcases all professionals in their art. The price of ticket is: $ 65, $ 35, $ 25, or $ 18 at the Blaisdell box office or ticketmaster.com. The tickets also sell at Angell Store, 41 Hotel Street and Shanghai Cafe 1047 Bethel Street on the side across the Hawaii Theater and next to Macy’s. The store telephone number is: 599 – 3767 or 542 – 6385. You can send an email to awchawaii@gmail.com or you can contact Beryl You at 542-6386. This Center’s website is at https://awchawaii.wordpress.com