The long-standing close connections between the University of Bremen and China in the science disciplines and engineering were recently expanded into the area of culture: This year and in the near future, the University Choir will be breathing life into cooperation agreements concluded with two Chinese universities. On 19th – 24th June the "Orchestra of Chinese Folk Music" from the Ocean University of China in Qingdao will be coming to Bremen, where they will be put up for five days in private accommodation provided by members of the Choir of the University of Bremen. The Chinese “orchestra” is quite a large group, comprising 45 members in all. This will be a rare opportunity to experience such a large, and at the same time such a young ensemble, live in three different concerts, and to marvel at the wealth of instruments and timbres that make up Chinese music.

Concerts in short

Thursday, 20th June, 8 p.m., Gutsscheune Stuhr/Varrel &
Friday, 21st June, 7 p.m., in the beer garden of Haus am Walde/Bremen
(if the weather doesn’t play ball, the concerts will be held in the GW1-Hörsaal building of the University of Bremen (in Universitätsallee, opposite the Universum)

"Brahms meets China"
Performed by: The “Orchestra of Chinese Folk Music from the Ocean University of China”/Qingdao and the Orchestra & Choir of the University of Bremen
The first part of the concert will be dedicated to Chinese music: Playing traditional Chinese instruments, the “Orchestra of Chinese Folk Music” led by Liang GUO will interpret folk music from different regions of China, and this will be accompanied with singing by the choir of the University of Bremen.
By way of contrast, the second part of the concert will feature German musical tradition. Led by Susanne Gläß, the Orchestra of the University of Bremen will perform Johannes Brahms' 2nd symphony.

Tickets for Thursday’s concert in Stuhr: € 12, reduced € 8; Tickets for Friday’s concert in Bremen: Entry free of charge – donations will be welcome.

Sunday, 23rd June, 7 p.m., Kirche Unser Lieben Frauen/Bremen
Traditional orchestral music from different regions of China
Performed by: The “Orchestra of Chinese Folk Music from the Ocean University of China”

Entry free of charge – donations will be welcome.

One of Bremen’s most splendid concert venues provides a worthy setting for the visitors from China to perform a broad spectrum of diverse and richly contrasting Chinese music.

In September 2013 the Choir of the University of Bremen will set out on a concert tour of China lasting two weeks. Led by Susanne Gläß, the 65 choir members will hold concerts in Shanghai, Qingdao and Beijing. By special request from Shanghai University, the University Choir will join with the choir of Shanghai University to perform Handel‘s Messiah, and a varied program of songs from other parts of the world with a special focus on Chinese and German compositions. A section of the choir will present their Chinese audience with a selection of the most successful German compositions of the past 100 years. On the occasion of its tenth anniversary four months ago, the entire University Choir ensemble received acclaim in packed-out performances of Carl Orff’s rhythmically stirring "Carmina Burana", held in the Stadthalle Verden and in the Bremen Glocke. Before leaving for China, the Choir of the University of Bremen will be joined by a seven-member group of musicians from the University of Bremen’s Orchestra: They will hold two public performances in the University’s GW1-Hörsaal building.

Sunday, 29th June &
Sunday, 30th June, both at 7 pm in the GW1-Hörsaal building of the University of Bremen (in Universitätsallee, opposite the Universum)

"Uni-Chor goes China"
The program for the University of Bremen’s Choir concert tour of China

• Carl Orff, Carmina Burana in Wilhelm Killmayer’s version for choir, solo voices, piano and percussion
• Handel, Best of "Messiah" (i. a. "Halleluja")
• International Music from Germany, China, Namibia, Turkey and Ukraine

Performed by: Yu Hong/soprano, Jan-Hendrik von Stemm/tenor, Andreas Heinemeyer/baritone, Friederike Funk/piano, Chor & Mitglieder des Orchesters der Universität Bremen, Conducted by: Susanne Gläß; Tickets: € 15, reduced € 8, tickets on sale during the period of the concerts on 20th, 21st and 23rd June and on 26th – 28th June in the Uni-Mensa (main dining hall).

You will find further information, also about the visit of the Choir of Shanghai University to Bremen planned for 2014, under www.orchester-und-chor.uni-bremen.de.

The project is being funded by the Waldemar Koch Foundation, the Karin and Uwe Hollweg Foundation, the Sparkasse Bremen, the Goethe-Institut, and the University of Bremen.