The Voice of Peace Chamber Ensemble brings together string players across generations for a winter programme of chamber classics, Chinese melodies and popular song.
The ensemble comprises a quintet and other chamber combinations, with Wang Likun as artistic director. The quintet's honours include silver awards in the Singing Beijing instrumental competition and a Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei non-professional chamber competition, followed by Singing Beijing gold in the western-instrument group.
Mozart's Serenade No. 13, Haydn's Rider Quartet and Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings anchor the programme. Three movements from Rossini's First Sonata for Strings offer further contrast, alongside Handel's Passacaglia and an Andante cantabile credited to Haydn.
The lighter selections move from Horse Racing and Purple Bamboo Tune to La Vie en rose and Funiculì, Funiculà. Familiar melodies and contrasting chamber textures give the evening its varied shape.
Full programme
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart – Serenade No. 13 in G major, K. 525 (final movement)
- George Frideric Handel - Passacaglia in G minor, from Harpsichord Suite No. 7, HWV 432
- Horse Racing
- La Vie en rose
- On the Other Side of the Water
- Franz Joseph Haydn - String Quartet in G minor, Op. 74 No. 3, The Rider, Hob. III:74
- Gioachino Antonio Rossini - Sonata for Strings No. 1 in G major: I. Moderato
- Gioachino Antonio Rossini - Sonata for Strings No. 1 in G major: II. Andantino
- Gioachino Antonio Rossini - Sonata for Strings No. 1 in G major: III. Allegro
- A Beautiful Evening
- Serenade for Strings in F major – Andante cantabile (traditionally attributed to Haydn)
- Funiculì, Funiculà (The Cable Car)
- Purple Bamboo Tune
- Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48: II. Valsa: Moderato (Waltz)
9 South Tianqiao Avenue, Xicheng District, Beijing (北京市西城区天桥南大街9号)