The US–China Music Institute at Bard College announces the launch of ticket sales for the eighth annual China Now Music Festival, taking place in New York City and at Bard College from September 27 through October 5, 2025.

Under the theme “Music in Motion,” this year’s festival will feature three major concerts and a US–China Music Forum, showcasing the creative legacy of three generations of Chinese composers and their groundbreaking work at the intersection of music, dance, and opera.

“This year’s theme, Music in Motion, explores the dynamic flow of contemporary Chinese music—its innovation, cross-cultural dialogues, and ability to evolve with the times,” said Jindong Cai, artistic director and conductor of the festival.

As in past years, this season’s programming is shaped with narrative and conceptual depth. The first program will be performed on September 27 at the Fisher Center for the Performing Arts and on September 28 at Lincoln Center by The Orchestra Now (TŌN) under the baton of Jindong Cai, featuring guest cellist Hai-Ye Ni and singers Manli Deng and Yue Wu. Works by Ye Xiaogang, Zou Hang, Dai Bo, and Yu Mengshi—composers spanning from the post-1950s to post-1980s generations—will illuminate the lineage of Chinese music from the late 20th century to today, evoking reflections on nature, time, and society.

The second program, presented only once on October 5 at Lincoln Center, will feature the Bard East/West Ensemble in a boundary-crossing performance with a Western string quintet, seven Chinese instruments, and Chinese-Western percussion. The concert begins with two movements from Guan Naizhong’s electrifying double percussion concerto The Age of the Dragon, followed by the haunting 30-minute chamber opera Mi 谜 (The Enigma), featuring tenor Eric Carey, baritone Nathaniel Sullivan, and Peking opera performer Xiangwei Yu. The program closes with Wang Danhong’s Four Seasons of the Lingering Garden, a music-and-dance collaboration with choreographer Dai Jian (France) and dancers Mi Peng and Wang Kan (China), where music and movement interweave.

Festival Highlights include:

• Ye Xiaogang’s The Song of the Earth—A monumental symphonic vocal work revisiting Mahler’s Das Leide von der Erde and inspired by the same Tang Dynasty poetry, performed in New York for the first time since its 2013 Lincoln Center debut.

• Renowned cellist Hai-Ye Ni (Principal Cello, The Philadelphia Orchestra) performs the US premiere of Chinese-Mongolian composer Yu Mengshi’s The Lonely Camel Calf.

• Wang Danhong’s Four Seasons in Lingering Garden—A symphonic poem reimagined with dance by acclaimed choreographer Dai Jian and performed by the Bard East/West Ensemble, blending Chinese and Western instruments with modern dance.

• Ma Hanrui’s chamber opera Mi 谜 (The Enigma)—Inspired by David Henry Hwang’s iconic play M. Butterfly, the work merges Western opera with Peking opera traditions, offering a powerful new interpretation of East-West cultural encounters. Featuring a libretto in English by Pan Geng.

More About the Music:

This year’s festival celebrates the 70th birthday of Ye Xiaogang, a trailblazer of contemporary Chinese symphonic music and a member of the legendary first class of composition students admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music after its reopening in 1978, along with classmates Tan Dun, Chen Yi, and Zhou Long. He later continued his studies in the United States at the Eastman School of Music. Ye and his peers have profoundly influenced younger generations of composers in China and beyond. His students Zou Hang (b. 1975) and Dai Bo (b. 1988) will both have works featured at the festival. Zou, now a professor at the Central Conservatory, is known for his vivid soundscapes that combine classical and popular influences; the festival will present two works from his “Regional Color” series, The Color of Qingdao and The Color of Beijing. Dai Bo, also on the faculty of the Central Conservatory, lost his sight at an early age; his award-winning work Invisible Mountain invites listeners into an inner world of sound shaped by extraordinary perception.

Yu Mengshi, composer of The Lonely Camel Calf, holds a doctorate from the Shanghai Conservatory and was the first Mongolian postdoctoral scholar in composition at the Central Conservatory. His work is both strikingly modern and deeply influenced by Mongolian folk music traditions. Wang Danhong, composer of Four Seasons of the Lingering Garden, is among the most dynamic Chinese composers today, known for her emotionally charged, lyrical, and grand musical language; she is currently a professor at the Central Conservatory. The youngest composer on the program is Hanrui Ma (b. 1998), currently a doctoral student at the Conservatory. Her works, which unite Eastern cultural elements with Western techniques, have been performed by several leading Chinese ensembles.

US-China Music Forum:

This year, on September 28 at 5:00 PM at Jazz at Lincoln Center, the festival will co-host a US-China Music Forum with China Daily. Centered on the theme “Music in Motion” and the core topic of cross-cultural exchange, the forum will draw on the Bard East/West Ensemble’s recent China tour. “This tour not only showcased the richness of diverse musical voices, but also demonstrated the power of music to transcend cultures and foster understanding,” said Artistic Director Jindong Cai. Participating musicians and representatives from the US arts and cultural community will share their experiences, highlighting the unique role of music as a universal language of connection. A reception with drinks and light refreshments will follow.

Schedule of Programs:

The Orchestra Now Performs Three Generations of Composers from China
September 27, 3:00 pm
Sosnoff Theater, Fisher Center at Bard College
Tickets: $15–$55
https://fishercenter.bard.edu/events/china-now-music-festival-music-in-motion/

September 28, 3:00 pm
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Tickets: $15–$55
https://ticketing.jazz.org/19439/19440

Bard East/West Ensemble Chamber Opera and Dance Concert
October 5, 3:00 pm
Rose Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Tickets: $15–$55
https://ticketing.jazz.org/19439/19443

US–China Music Forum: Music in Motion
Co-presented by China Daily
September 28, 5:00 pm 
Ertugun Atrium, Jazz at Lincoln Center
Tickets: $10 (includes wine and refreshments)
https://us-china-music-forum-2025.eventbrite.com