MTSU concert celebrates new Chinese cultural center March 17

Award-winning artists from China’s most prestigious musical institutions will entertain the community in a free public concert set Thursday, March 17, at MTSU’s Tucker Theatre.

A main character in the Beijing Opera, Sun Wukong, also known as “The Monkey King,” poses for a publicity photo. Chinese opera singers and musicians will perform in a free concert at MTSU March 17 in Tucker Theatre. (photo submitted)

A main character in the Beijing Opera, Sun Wukong, also known as “The Monkey King,” will be part of a free public concert at MTSU March 17 in Tucker Theatre. (photo submitted)

The Confucius Institute of MTSU and MTSU’s Center for Chinese Music and Culture are sponsors of the 7 p.m. event, which features performers from Beijing’s Central Conservatory of Music.

Dr. Mei Han

A printable parking map is available at http://tinyurl.com/MTSUParkingMap.

The concert commemorates the grand opening of MTSU’s new Center for Chinese Music and Culture.

“The Central Conservatory is considered the most prestigious musical educational institution in China,” said Dr. Mei Han, director of the new Center for Chinese Music and Culture and an associate professor in MTSU’s School of Music.

Imperial court music and contemporary compositions are part of the program, as well as Beijing Opera selections by renowned actors who have performed around the world.

The concert commemorates the grand opening of MTSU’s new Center for Chinese Music and Culture.

Click on the logo to visit the MTSU Center for Chinese Music and Culture website.

Located at 503 Bell St. in Murfreesboro, the center is the “first and only Chinese music center in North America,” Han said.

The center has an impressive collection of Chinese musical instruments, including the first set of replica bronze chime bells of the Marquis Yi of the Chinese state of Zeng. The originals date back to 433 BCE, or Before the Common Era.

For more information, contact Han at 615-898-5718 or mei.han@mtsu.edu.

To learn more about the Center for Chinese Music and Culture, go to www.mtsu.edu/ccmc.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)

A quartet from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing performs on Chinese indigenous instruments, including, from left, the erhu, sanxian, pipa and zheng. Musicians from the Central Conservatory will perform in a free concert at MTSU March 17 in Tucker Theatre. (photo submitted)