Listings

Shows

China Film Symphony Orchestra

Date: Nov 19 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 80-500 yuan

China Film Symphony Orchestra is one of the national outstanding orchestras founded earliest in the People's Public of China. Over sixty years, along with the development of China's film and television music arts, the Orchestra has performed music for nearly two thousand of films, TV dramas, documentaries and special films. The Orchestra also performed music in more than 40 countries and regions, and played symphonic concerts, opera and ballets with international conductors, composers, musicians and dancers for many times to promote Chinese music development and international cultural exchange. Peng Jiapeng, a national first-grade conductor, is the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, China Oriental Symphony Orchestra and Macao Chinese Orchestra, as well as standing guest conductor of Ukrainian National Philharmonic.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

Drama x Music Event When Debussy Meets Du Liniang

Date: Nov 14 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 120-280 yuan

Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre of Jiangsu province, formerly known as Sukun Theatre of Jiangsu province, was founded in 1956 and played both Kunqu Opera and Suju Opera. Over the years, the theater has fostered four generations of outstanding performers of 'Ji', 'Cheng', 'Hong' and 'Yang' (which means to inherit and promote) of Kunqu artists of over a hundred. Currently 96% of the members are professional and technical personnel, of whom Wang Fang was the winner of the Second Plum Title of the Plum Blossom Award for Chinese Theatre; Yu Jiulin and Shen Fengying won both the Plum Blossom Award. In 2002, Wang Fang, Tao Hongzhen, Yang Xiaoyong and Lv Fuhai won the 'UNESCO Award for Promoting Kunqu Opera'. The theater invited famous artists of Kunqu Opera including Wang Shiyu, Zhang Jiqing, Cai Zhengren as artistic directors and also invited other famous artists to engage in inheriting, engineering and cultivating young actors together with our theater teachers. We have achieved rich fruits and made great contributions to rescue, inheritance and development of Kunqu Opera arts.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

Ballet Giselle in Shanghai

Date: Nov 17-18 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai International Dance Center

Price: 80-480 yuan

The Guangzhou Ballet, established in January 1994, is headed by famous dancer Zhang Dandan who is also Artistic Director of the Ballet. Since its establishment, the Guangzhou Ballet has staged quite a lot of ballet classics including Coppelia, Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet, Giselle etc., defining its performing style as rigorous and orthodox. Besides, it also embraces memorable works by modern choreographers, such as Anna Karenina, The Lady of the Camellias, symphonic ballet Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 2, which demonstrates the great vitality and diversity of the Ballet.

Contact: 400-610-3721

NCPA Drama A Midsummer Night's Dream

Date: Nov 12-13 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Beijing Comedy Theater

Price: 80-500 yuan

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of Shakespeare's most popular comedies and is a lyrical work widely performed across the world. As the world commemorates the 400th anniversary of the death of Shakespeare, NCPA pays homage to the literary giant by not only importing the Royal Shakespeare Company's trilogy Henry VI Part I and II and Henry Vbut also inviting Chris White, an Associate for the Royal Shakespeare Company, to direct NCPA's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, offering a glimpse into Shakespeare's artistic world. This story happens between city and forest, sobriety and slumber, and reality and dream. Entering the magical forest is like stepping into a chaotic dream, mysterious, silent, and full of unpredictable elements like hidden passion and anxiety. The ancient city, on the other hand, represents social mechanism and order of social operation, capable of resolving any conflict.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

Yo-Yo Ma and The Silk Road Ensemble Concert

Date: Nov 16 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Center for the Performing Arts

Price: 280-1,280 yuan

Yo-Yo Ma's multifaceted career is testament to his continual search for new ways to communicate with audiences, and to his personal desire for artistic growth and renewal. Whether performing new or familiar works from the cello repertoire, coming together with colleagues for chamber music or exploring cultures and musical forms outside the Western classical tradition, Mr. Ma strives to find connections that stimulate the imagination. Yo-Yo Ma maintains a balance between his engagements as soloist with orchestras throughout the world, his recital and chamber music activities, and his work with the Silk Road Project, for which he serves as Artistic Director. He draws inspiration from a wide circle of collaborators, each fueled by the artists' interactions. Mr. Ma is also widely recognized for his strong commitment to educational programs that bring the world into the classroom and the classroom into the world.

Contact: 010-6655-0000

William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew in Beijing

Date: Nov 16 - 7 pm

Venue: Rulun Lecture Hll of Renmin University

Price: 60-280 yuan

This is one of Shakespeare's most famous and popular comedies. The story follows the fortunes of the beastly Petruchio as he attempts to tame the wild beauty of Kate and claim not just her hand in marriage but a slice of her foolish father's gold. Meanwhile Kate's young sister is chased by a string of would - be husbands who will resort to any trick, or adopt any disguise, to claim their pretty prize. TNT's production is fast moving, musical and very funny. Commedia dell'arte, Elithabethan music and visual imagery inspired by Renaissance Italian art combine with knock about comedy and a ferocious battle of the sexes to create a truly memorable performance. As in Shakespeare's own day, live music will accompany the production, arranged by noted Scottish composer John Kenny. A five part sung score will be complimented by harpsichord, clarinet and percussion.

Contact: 400-610-3721

Ghost - The Musical in Shenyang

Date: Nov 15- 2o - 7 pm

Venue: Beijing Tianqiao Performing Arts Center

Price: 180-980 yuan

GHOST is a timeless fantasy about the power of love. Walking back to their apartment one night, Sam and Molly are mugged, leaving Sam murdered on a dark street. Sam is trapped as a ghost between this world and the next and unable to leave Molly who he learns is in grave danger. With the help of a phony storefront psychic, Oda Mae Brown, Sam tries to communicate with Molly in the hope of saving and protecting her. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Film of 1990, GHOST won numerous awards worldwide and is one of the biggest grossing films of all time. Adapted for the stage by Bruce Joel Rubin, GHOST is directed by Matthew Warchus. Set and costume designs are by Rob Howell, Illusions are by Paul Kieve and Musical Supervisor and Arranger is Christopher Nightingale. Lighting and Sound are by Hugh Vanstone and Bobby Aitken. Jon Driscoll is the Projection Designer and Ashley Wallen is the Choreographer.

Contact: 400-610-3721

Harlequino: on to Freedom

Date: Nov 17-20 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Beijing Comedy Theater

Price: 80-680 yuan

In the drama Harlequino: on to Freedom newly-created by Tim Robbins in 2016, the debate between a group of troublemaker performers and their drama professor is recorded. Their disagreement on the correct understanding of 'comedy' develops into an argument concerning the essence of comedy. The performers and professor commonly discuss the purpose of art, reflect on the writing process of history and survey rich elements related to comedy performance. The entire drama is presented with the jocosity and humor of Italian improvisational comedy, while it also possesses seriousness and profundity in its discussion of the true essence of art. In the drama, the nonlinear narration of the story generates 'alienation' in the audience and appears to present a quite typical narrative or historical drama, while there is a close relation between the opening of the drama and the audience aside from this 'alienation'. The method of 'drama in drama' is the same as the story structure itself, which is both ancient and modern.

Contact: 400-610-3721

Musical: Romeo et Juliette in Guangzhou

Date: Nov 18-24 - 8 pm

Venue: Guangzhou Opera House

Price: 199-2,100 yuan

Rom��o et Juliette is a French musical based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet, with music and lyrics by Gerard Presgurvic. It premiered in Paris on January 19, 2001. The production was directed and choreographed by Redha, with costumes by Dominique Borg and settings by Petrika Ionesco. The producers were Gerard Louvin, GLEM, and Universal Music.! Since then, the musical has been performed in Verona, Rome, Canada, Antwerp, London, Amsterdam, Budapest, Szeged, Moscow, Vienna, Bucharest, Seoul, Pusan (South Korea), Taipei, Monterrey, Japan and Shanghai and has been translated into several languages, including Flemish, Italian, Hungarian, Russian, English, German, Spanish, Romanian, Japanese, and Korean. Differences from Shakespeare's plot depend on the production and include new characters such as Death (French, Belgian, Japanese, Netherlands, and Moscow productions only) and the Poet (French production only) appear for dramatic effect.

Contact: 400-610-3721

Valery Afanassiev 2016 China Tour Shanghai

Date: Nov 12 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall

Price: 80-580 yuan

Valery Afanassiev is a Russian pianist, writer and conductor. In Germany Afanassiev was first known as a duet partner of Gidon Kremer in chamber music performances. His interpretations of the piano works of Franz Schubert, Ludwig van Beethoven and others have aroused controversy on account of Afanassiev's tempo choices and expressive techniques. A review of his recording of Schubert's last three piano sonatas stated: "the perversity encountered here so angered me that I felt I could not dignify what I found here with any kind of coherent analysis".

Contact: 400-610-3721

Activities & nightlife

Converse Rubber TracksLive at School Bar

Date: Nov 18 - 9:30 pm

Venue: School Bar

Price: Free

Converse Rubber Tracks Live takes the studio experience to the live stage in Beijing by presenting local bands in a series of exclusive free shows. This edition hosted by the legendary punk and underground music livehouse School Bar in Wudaoying Hutong features the post-rock explorations of Macondo, the funk rock stomp of Joker's Belief, the dance punk beat of The Paper Tigers and the garage punk of Motorbike Girls. Join School for a night of free underground rock 'n' roll.

Spittoon Literary Magazine Launch

Date: Nov 12 - 8 pm

Venue: Ball House

Price: 30 yuan

Spittoon, a collective platform for poets and fiction writers in Beijing, is launching its own magazine on November 12. The launch will be a fun mix of live music and short readings by four of the writers featured in the magazine. Get there early, because the first 30 people to arrive at the launch will get free entry and a free copy of the magazine; sold inside at a discounted price, it will include English language poems, fiction, flash fiction, poetry-in-translation, and illustrations.

Contact: 010-6407-4051

High Tone Sound System Dub Invaders China Tour

Date: Nov 12-13 - 10 pm

Venue: Dada (Guloudongdajia, Dongcheng)

Price: 80 yuan

High Tone, a trend setter in bringing dub music to a live audience, has become a household name on the European underground scene, touring extensively from Canada to China, from Poland to England, and playing small venues or massive festivals indiscriminately.

The band continues to evolve through each new album and collaboration, melding influences inherited from hip-hop, drum & bass, dubstep, and maintaining its core techno sound, a signature touch since the start. The "High Tone sound" is fluid yet constant, innovative, experimental, but always with a strong psychedelic and hypnotic flavor. Founded in 2009 with the release of the first opus and a sound-system tour, the entity Dub Invaders enables the members of High Tone crew to revive the original spirit of a culture that shaped, influenced and inspired them from their start.

Contact: 183-1108-00818