Chinese classical concert to welcome Year of the Rooster

A Chinese musical rising star will be joining some of China's leading classical musicians to celebrate the Lunar New Year with a concert organised by the Birmingham Conservatoire.

Violinist Sun Yu-mien from Taipei, Taiwan is a student at Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University, and she will be playing with pianists Di Xiao and Peng I-Hsuan and cellist Jiaxin Lloyd Webber - wife of British cellist, conductor and the principal of the Birmingham Conservatoire, Julian Lloyd Webber-in the musical extravaganza.

Twenty-two-year-old Sun told China Daily: "I'm really looking forward to it, and one of our group members isn't Chinese so it's nice to show him a bit of the culture and it is a bonding experience."

?"It will be an entertaining night of light classics and music to celebrate the Lunar New Year," Sun added.

The violinist was recently selected to join prestigious Welsh orchestra, Sinfonia Cymru, as a freelance musician.

Julian Lloyd Webber, who will be introducing the concert said: "The University is extremely proud of its close and longstanding engagement with China. Chinese students enrich our campus community here in the UK, while our work in China enhances research and teaching collaborations."

Professor Lloyd Webber took up the role of principal of the music academy in 2015, as the school prepares to move to a new state-of-the-art 57-million-pound facility this year.

The Chinese classical showcase also marks the first time the music school has collaborated with the Birmingham Hippodrome and it will be held in the theatre's Patrick Centre.

Lloyd Webber said: "Alongside established stars, it is a real delight for us to be presenting up-and-coming Chinese performers from the Birmingham Conservatoire, who, in years to come, will be filling concert halls in UK, China and around the world in their own right."

Concertgoers will be treated to an eclectic mix of traditional eastern and western styles to bring in the Year of the Rooster. The performance will feature music from composers such as Rodgers and Hammerstein, Han Kun Sha and Antonin Dvorak.

The event is on Sunday.

Di Xiao

I-Hsuan Peng

Jiaxin Lloyd Webber

Yu-Mien Sun