Tan Dun & Stravinsky

Tan Dun is one of the most renowned composers of our time and is best known for having managed to artistically combine Eastern and Western musical traditions. He is known for his symphonic works as well as film music and has received numerous awards and recognitions for his work, including Grammy, BAFTA, and Academy Awards for his music for the film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. He is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Water Conservation, as water and other elements are very common motifs in his work. The principal timpanist of the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Soraya Nayyar, will play the unique Water Concerto by Tan Dun, in which water is often the main solo instrument.

The concert will also feature two works by Stravinsky performed for the first time in Iceland: The early work Fireworks, which brought deserved attention to the young composer when it was first performed, and the tone poem The Nightingale's Song, which Stravinsky adapted from his opera The Nightingale from 1914. The spirit of Rite of Spring is embodied in this colourful and lively tone poem that tells the story of how the nightingale's song melted the heart of the emperor in China.