Tan Dun's concert mixes rock and symphony | Forum

Rock and Symphony, the two very different music forms, will sing together tonight at 2017 MISA, in the hands of Tan Dun who has always been looking for new possibilities in music. The Chinese composer and conductor will be joined by Chinese rock band Hanggai and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra.

“Symphonic rock is a complete new art form which we have been working on for 2-3 years,” said Tan Dun, “We want it to be a conversation and comparison between the two music types, rather than having one serving the other.”

Audiences will hear both the orchestra and the rock band collaborating in Hanggai’s hits like The Rising Sun, Horse of Colors and The Beautiful Prairie, My Sweet Home as well as Tan Dun’s Contrabass Concerto Wolf Totem and Passacaglia: Secret of Wind and Birds.

The concert will also premiere “Shanghai Semiconductor Receiver”, which tells the story of people on the prairie first heard the outside world through the Shanghai-made semiconductor receiver in the 1960s.

A semiconductor receiver will be put in the center of the stage, playing famous Shanghai singer Zhou Xuan’s “White Light”, while the Orchestra and Hanggai will join in, taking audiences from the old-time to the 21st century prairie and Shanghai.

Rock, in Tan’s view, has always been a pioneer in music that directly dialogues with the society, challenges what is going on and triggers on changes; while classic music has more often played a role of tradition guardian in the recent dozens of years, which he does not appreciate much.