The world is in good hands, with the next generation coming along. At least, the world of guitar is in good hands. International teen guitar sensation Xu Kun "Alan" Liu will be the special guest of the Prince George Symphony Orchestra for a show they are calling Spanish Flair.
Liu, born in China and now an eminent immigrant to Canada, is a star on both the six-string and the piano. It is the former that he will dazzle local audiences with on Saturday night. PGSO artistic director Michael Hall will conduct this mainstage performance. It will feature four main pieces:
Chabrier's Espana, Debussy's Petite Suite, Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio Espagnole, and Rodrigo's Concierto de Aranjuez.
CBC recently named Liu one of Canada's Hot 30 Under 30 Classical Musicians with the quote "just, wow" accompanying the citation.
"Born in Xi'An, China in December of 2001, Alan began studying piano and guitar at the age of five," said Teresa Saunders, general manager of the PGSO. "When he was seven he won his first national-class prize for guitar in Beijing and has since amassed an impressive list of top prizes in music competitions around the world."
In China, his earliest teaching masters were Ping Jin and Xia Yang. In Canada, he studied with Daniel Bolshoy of UBC and currently with Michael Partington of the University of Washington. His playing style has touches of eastern and western influences.
Some of his career highlights so far include being named the one of the Grand Award winners at the 2016 Canadian National Music Festival, winner of the grand prize at the 2016 Vancouver Kiwanis Music Festival, several awards from the Guitar Foundation of America International Youth Competition, a prizewinner at the Michele Pittaluga International Young Guitarist competition in Italy and many other prestigious outcomes. That list doesn't include his piano awards.
He has performed with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, was a featured artist at the Montreal International Guitar Festival, and now he is making his PGSO debut.
Spanish Flair takes place at Vanier Hall starting at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are on sale online at www.centralinteriortickets.com or hit the link at the PGSO website.
Looking ahead, the PGSO is in action again on Feb. 9 at the Ramada Ballroom for a chamber music event entitled Winter Play.
