ODU Professor and World-Renowned Composer Adolphus Hailstork to Debut Piece Honoring Chinese Zodiac
October 09, 2019
Adolphus Hailstork
By Amy Matzke-Fawcett
A performance by composer Adolphus Hailstork, professor and Eminent Scholar in Old Dominion University's Department of Music, will feature the United States premiere of "Chinese Zodiac Suite," which celebrates each animal of the Chinese calendar.
The Oct. 10 event is part of "Evening Conversations," a series of events celebrating the special exhibition "Conversations: Contemporary Asian Art" at the Hermitage Museum in Norfolk. Tickets are $13 and available on the museum's website.
"Chinese Zodiac" is the result of a three-year project sponsored by ODU's Confucius Institute. It incorporates traditional Eastern folklore with Western musical elements. The "Suite" made its world premiere in Beijing as part of the joined concert of Minzu University of China and ODU in May 2018. The student orchestra of Minzu University played the piece and an ODU delegation, headed by Provost Austin Agho, visited China.
The "Suite" will be performed by the Ambrosia Quartet, which is made up of musicians from the Virginia Symphony Orchestra. Students with ID will be admitted at no charge but must reserve their by emailing mball@thehermitagemuseum.org.
This is not the first time ODU faculty have presented at the Hermitage series. In September, Agnieszka Whelan, senior lecturer in art history; Nicole Willock, assistant professor of Asian religions; and Peter Eudenbach, Art Department chair, were part of a panel discussing contemporary Asian art with artist Kiyomi Iwata, who is featured in the exhibition.
