Oscar winner Tan Dun to present concert

Eldbjorg Hemsing from Norway will play at Tan's concert.

In 2010, Hemsing met Tan for the first time at his studio in Shanghai, where she had gone to play in Tan's violin concerto inspired by Peking Opera, with the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra under his baton.

"I remember one very specific question he asked me: 'What is your feeling and perception about the piece?' He wanted to hear what my thoughts were and how I'd interpret it," Hemsing recalls.

The foundation of how they work together is still openness and curiosity, she adds.

Fire Ritual, which premiered in Beijing in 1997, was one of Tan's concertos for huqin, a two-stringed bowed instrument.

According to the composer, Hemsing will play the violin in a manner similar to how the Chinese instruments erhu (a bowed instrument) and guqin (Chinese zither) are played. The orchestra members will be arranged across the stage and the audience will be seated in a way that will resemble royal performances during the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The Cello Concerto Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon is based on Tan's Oscar-winning score, which was performed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, for the Ang Lee film.