About the concert

Welcome to Chifen 2016 Christmas recital"The Fantasy of sugar Plum Fairies". This concert includes a delightful variety of piano and vocal music from all ages. Along with a number of beautiful songs of the Christmas season, our recital will feature music of the great Russian romantic composer Peter Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky was born in 1840 and died in 1893. He wrote a great deal of music for orchestra, piano and voice, and is famous for his beautiful melodies and his rich orchestral colors. Tchaikovsky's three fantasy ballets, Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake, and the Nutcracker, have delighted children and adults ever since they were composed and were very influential compositions in the history of music. Our concert will feature many of the fatuous movements from these works

In our choir songs, Teacher Joyce chose two beautiful movie theme "Over the Rainbow" from the Wizard of Oz, and “Somewhere out there” from An American Tail.” Over the rainbow" expresses Dorothy's belief that beyond the rainbow dreams come true, and as she thinks of her hopes for her future, she has the confidence that anything is possible. Somewhere out there"is a beautiful song about a person's hope of being reunited with his family. In choosing the Christmas songs for this concert Joyce has selected songs that express the true spirit of Christmas and focus on the story that inspired the great art and music of western culture. The message of hope and peace to all people that is at the heart of the Christmas story seems more important than ever in the world in which we live.

We will begin our concert with teacher Joyce singing one of Tchaikovsky's famous songs, "Nur wer die Sehnsucht kennt" The words are by the German poet, Goethe, and the song expresses the deep longing of the human heart. We can hear in this song Tchaikovsky's own personal suffering and the sense of inner loneliness which was at the heart of his sensitive artistic spirit. Now let's step into this fairytale world of Tchaikovsky landmarks in the history of ballet as we follow the story through its music.