Wu Fei is a renowned master of the guzheng, the 21-string Chinese zither, an instrument dating back 2,500 years. This original composition is performed by members of the Lehigh University Philharmonic conducted by Professor Paul Salerni, featuring Wu Fei on guzheng and Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz on oud — the traditional Chinese and Jewish plucked string instruments respectively. The work is inspired by real stories of Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai from Europe before and during World War II, and built lives in China.

The New York Philharmonic, which helped inaugurate Zoellner Arts Center in 1997, and marked its 10th anniversary, returns for a third performance in Baker Hall to commemorate our 25th anniversary. Music Director Jaap van Zweden conducts the orchestra in a concert that blends the impressionistic delicacy of Debussy’s Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun with the Romantic virtuosity of Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, with Bomsori Kim as soloist. The rediscovered Symphony No. 4 by Florence Price completes the program. Price was a pioneering composer in the 1930s.