East meets West in this stunning MSO.LIVE production of Zhao Jiping’s moving Violin Concerto No.1. One of China’s most highly acclaimed and internationally active composers, Zhao has twice been awarded the coveted Golden Rooster Award for Best Film Score. This cinematic background pervades the Violin Concerto No.1, which, in Zhao's terms, is "based upon the principals of the Western Concerto … with certain adjustments and aesthetics of the Chinese musical tradition.” The result is an absorbingly sumptuous musical idiom, in which heartfelt melodies soar atop an expressive canvas that unites quiet lyricism with epic drama. With MSO Principal Guest Conductor Xian Zhang at the helm, Zhao’s work is performed here by acclaimed violinist Ning Feng, who delivered the work's highly successful premiere in 2017.