DaXun Zhang will present a double bass recital in Ramsey Hall Feb. 5. He will be accompanied by pianist Tomoko Kashiwagi. Tickets for the concert are $17 (half-price students) and may be purchased at the box office in the Performing Arts Center.
The annual Double Bass Symposium at UGA takes place the evening before, in the School of Music. In conjunction with the symposium, Timothy Cobb, principal bass with the Metropolitan Opera orchestra, will give a recital that night, Feb. 4, at 8 p.m. in Ramsey Hall. Admission to the Cobb recital is free.
DaXun Zhang is the first double bass player to win the Young Concert Artists International Auditions. He made such a sensation that he was awarded five special prizes: the Claire Tow Prize, which sponsored his New York debut, the Washington Performing Arts Society Prize to present his Washington debut at the Kennedy Center, the La Jolla Music Society Prize, the Orchestra New England Soloist Prize and the Fergus Prize.
This season he is participating in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project at Carnegie Hall. He and Ma recently recorded a CD that was released on Sony Classical and used as the score for a 10-part documentary series on the Silk Road that aired on Japan’s national broadcast channel, NHK, on New Year’s day.
Zhang comes from a family of bassists in his native city of Harbin in northeast China. He has been playing the instrument since the age of 9, and he studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing beginning at the age of 11.
He continued his studies in the United States at the Interlochen Arts Academy and is currently working towards his bachelor of music degree at the Indiana University School of Music.
Pianist Tomoko Kashiwagi is a native of Japan. She began her musical training at the age of 9 and now holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music from Indiana University.
The program for the recital includes Gliere’s Intermezzo, Greig’s Sonata in A minor, Op. 36, Yan-Jun Xua’s Moon Reflected in the Er-Quan Pool, Bottesini’s Capriccio di bravura, Shostakovich’s Adagio and Waxman’s Carmen Fantasy.
The Performing Arts Center is sponsoring an educational residency with Zhang in conjunction with his recital. He will present educational programs for elementary and high school students in Clarke and surrounding counties.
