Local audiences can expect a showcase of outstanding music from both Eastern and Western traditions when the White Rock Chinese Arts Centre presents its 2015 World Classic Spring Music Festival at the Bell Centre for the Performing Arts, Tuesday Feb. 17 at 7 p.m.
Organizer Mia Chao promises a stellar line-up of entertainers from the Peninsula and the Vancouver area, including emerging classical mezzo-soprano singing star Cristina Zhang (White Rock Moon Festival), plus professional dance, up-and-coming rock and country musicians, and the noted White Rock Children's Choir.
"All people – no matter what age, race or gender – enjoy music, because it communicates beauty and peace," Chao said.
"Great music is the gateway to realizing what is valuable in our lives."
In addition to Zhang and the White Rock Children's Choir (invited to perform last year at New York's Carnegie Hall) the line-up also includes teen singer-songwriters Ben Dunnill, Josh Bogert and the duo Fionn; and members of the Feng Feng Performance and Education Academy and XBa Dance.
Also performing will be classical conductor Zhuo Rui Shi, winner of the 2014 International Conducting competition, and Hu Hon Ying, a leading practitioner of the Ghuzheng, a traditional Chinese zither-like instrument and founder of the Vancouver Guzheng Academy.
Zhang is fast gathering an international reputation for the richness and tonal purity of her dramatic soprano singing, Chao said.
A student of bel canto technique with Italian tenor Carlos Della Mora (who, in turn, studied with the famed Franco Corelli), Zhang has developed a varied repertoire that includes compositions by such famed operatic composers as Puccini, Verdi and Bellini.
"Whenever she sings, people are wanting to know when and where she will be performing again," Chao added. "She will soon be very well-known."'
Fionn, the award-winning 16-year-old twin singer-instrumentalist duo formerly known as Alanna and Brianne, have already performed at several venues in Nashville, as well as across the Lower Mainland and recorded a first EP in May of last year in Los Angeles with producer Steve Dorff.
Singer-pianist Dunnill, an Earl Marriott Secondary student, may be the youngest professional entertainer on the Siegel Entertainment roster, already building a loyal local following with his monthly appearances at the Bin101 Tapas Bar in White Rock.
Only 14 years old, singer-songwriter-guitarist Bogert has already shared the Orpheum Theatre stage with famed Canadian tenor, Ben Heppner, and performed at Carnegie Hall in New York, as a member of the White Rock Children’s Choir.
In the eight years since it was established, the Feng Feng Performance and Education Academy has already trained more than a thousand students in professional performing skills, including appearing in television shows, film, commercials and magazine advertisements.
XBa Dance, based in South Surrey, combines dance disciplines with cutting-edge film and video techniques.
The Bell Centre is located at 6250 144 St.
Tickets ($20 and $10) are available by calling 604-788-0107 or 604-786-0088.