Three professors of music and dance from China will visit Drake University April 13–24: Jin Xuan, director of the dance department at Hebei Vocational Arts College; Lin Jing, professor and master tutor at the Music College of Minzu University of China, Beijing; Cui Jinlan, associate professor of piano and master instructor at the Music College of Minzu University of China, Beijing.
While at Drake, the visiting artists will give a variety of performances, culminating in a final concert at Sheslow Auditorium on April 20 at 7:30 p.m. The concert, “Cultures in Harmony: From China to the West,” will feature Cui and Lin performing Chinese folk songs, operatic arias, art song and Chinese piano repertoire. Drake students will also play selected Chinese pieces and Leanne Freeman-Miller, associate professor of voice, will perform a duet with Lin. The concert is sponsored by The Principal Financial Group Center for Global Citizenship, the Chinese Cultural Exchange Program, Iowa Arts Council and the Provost’s Office.
Other performances include:
- Dance Master Class with Professor Jin, Harmon Fine Arts Center room 44, 12–1:45 p.m., April 18.
- Piano Master Class with Professor Cui, featuring Drake piano students performing Chinese modern and folk pieces, Sheslow Auditoruim, 1:30–3 p.m., April 18.
- Voice Master Class with Professor Lin, featuring Drake voice students performing operatic and art song repertoire, Sheslow Auditorium, 3–5 p.m., April 18.
- Dance Performance Exchange, featuring Professor Jin’s performance of the traditional Chinese “Fan Dance” with select Drake students, Studio Theatre in Harmon Fine Arts Center, 11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m., April 19.
All events are free and open to the public.
The professors’ visit continues Drake’s relationship with schools in the Hebei Province of China. In June 2011, Freeman-Miller and other Drake professors led a group of 19 voice students on a week-long trip to Beijing and Shijiazhuang. Those visits included stops at Minzu University and Hebei Vocational Arts College, where students and faculty performed. This visit served as the catalyst for bringing Jin, Cui and Lin to Drake and furthers the relationships between the three schools through faculty exchange.
“We are all excited to have both performance and master classes from such accomplished faculty here on Drake’s campus,” says Kirk Martin, director of Drake’s Chinese Cultural Exchange Program. “This allows our community to experience not only the arts of China, but also see how music and dance are taught there. We are confident this spring’s exchange will deepen our relations with these institutions and further broaden the types of activities in China available to our students and faculty.”