In celebration of 25 years of supporting and nurturing extra-ordinary Asian artists in Colorado and around the world, Asian Performing Arts of Colorado held a spectacular concert bringing APAC artists together from throughout our history. Joining the Asian artists were the first-ever Western
singers to study and learn modern Mandarin folk and operatic song at the historic I SING BEIJING program that debuted in 2011 and attracted worldwide media attention.
The evening combined heartwarming musical favorites with emerging new genre from the East and West and awarded Maestro Awards to our founding board member, Celeste Fleming and long time benefactors, Anna and John J. Sie for their contributions in helping to build cultural connections through music.
Our president and founder, Dr. Martha Liao writes:
When APAC started in the mid-1980’s, none of us had any idea that it would grow into the dynamic organization that it is today. Our Colorado roots are strong: the early series of “Best Voices of China” concerts; the U.S. premiere of Tan Dun’s Water Passion After St. Matthew: the world premiere of Poet Li Bai at the Central City Opera House, are just a few highlights. Today, APAC enjoys an ongoing and growing international presence through our subsidiary, the Asian Performing Arts Council. I SING BEIJING, APAC’s newest outreach, education and training project recently completed the second year of its internationally acclaimed program. We are proud to say that this program is the first in the opera world, to bring Western young singers to China to learn and sing in Mandarin, just as we were proud to be the first to bring Chinese singers to study in Colorado 25 years ago. We are so fortunate to have a number of the I Sing Beijing talented vocalists with us tonight.
Photos follow of our 25th Anniversary Concert.
