For the fifth time, the Foundation for Chinese Performing Arts returns with a vibrant summer concert series at New England Conservatory’s Williams Hall and Jordan Hall, running from August 7^th to August 23^rd [complete calendar HERE]. These performances have become a welcome fixture for Boston’s music connoiseurs, offering rich musical expressions and presenting artists from all over the world during a time of the year when most of the city’s stages fall quiet.

Since 1989, the Foundation has been promoting Asian musicians and the Eastern musical heritage through over 159 concerts in Boston’s Symphony Hall, Jordan Hall, Harvard’s Sanders Theater, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Calderwood Hall, and New York’s Carnegie Hall. Artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Fou Ts’ong, Tan Dun, Hung-Kuan Chen, Bion Tsang, Nai-Yuan Hu, Dang Thai-Son, Minsoo Sohn, Stella Chen, the Shanghai Quartet, Ning An, and Haochen Zhang have joined the roster to critical acclaim. For 28 years, the FCPA had also hosted its Annual Music Festival at Walnut Hill School for the Arts, attracting students from all over the world and had included students like Lang Lang, George Li, Yeol Eun Son, Eric Lu, Kate Liu and Kai-Min Chang, to name a few. The Foundation’s summer series at NEC also welcomes artists from the west.

Readers can scan the lineup to see if their favorite artists are returning or appearing in this year’s thrilling series:

This year’s soloists include pianist Sahun Sam Hong, who opens the series on August 7^th with works by Glass, Brahms, Copland, and Beethoven; pianist Hsiang Tu, in an all-Ravel program on August 8^th; and pianist Jialin Yao, winner of last year’s Fou Ts’ong International Competition and soloist in Rachmaninoff’s Third Concerto with the Mercury Orchestra, who will perform a program ranging from Beethoven to Ravel on August 13^th. Violinist Luke Hsu follows with a complete performance of the 24 Paganini Caprices, reimagined with a dramatic operatic twist, on August 14^th.

On August 15^th, pianist Sophia Liu interprets works by Chopin, Schubert, and Tchaikovsky. Hyun-Gyu Ji follows on August 19^th with Bach’s monumental Goldberg Variations. On August 21^st, Sunny Lin Kai Zhang, also a prizewinner of last year’s Fou Ts’ong International Competition, explores a colorful and diverse program from Beethoven to Scriabin.

The Foundation’s summer series would not feel complete without its centerpiece: the Fou Ts’ong International Concerto Competition. Held on August 16^th and 17^th and open to the public, the competition is widely regarded as the highlight of the series. The first-prize winner will earn the opportunity to perform with conductor Channing Yu and the Mercury Orchestra in Jordan Hall on August 23^rd, serving as the festival’s grand finale.

This year’s concerto is Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand, a breathtaking work of beauty, drama, and innovation that deserves far more frequent appearances on concert programs. The jury includes the distinguished Marc-André Hamelin, Channing Yu, Jung-Ja Kim, Michael Lewin, and Sergey Schepkin. Schepkin will also appear in a solo recital on August 10^th, offering Beethoven’s Sonata, Debussy’s Preludes, works by Schoenberg, and Schumann’s Carnaval.

The summer series is rich with du0 concerts. On August 9^th, the impeccable duo of cellist Leland Ko and pianist Adria Ye perform Beethoven, Fauré, Boulanger, Schumann, and Mendelssohn. On August 11^th, the Psychopomp Ensemble brings its four-hand arrangements of Laufey, Billie Holiday, Duke Ellington, and Carl Zerrahn, as well as beloved solo repertoire and orchestral overtures like Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and Rossini’s William Tell Overture, all performed on a single piano.

On August 12^th, cellist Jonah Ellsworth,member of BSO,  joins pianist Evren Ozel for an evening of Beethoven, Britten, and Rachmaninoff. Ozel, who recently won Bronze at the Cliburn Competition, brings his artistry to the series. Violinist Julian Rhee, an Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient joins pianist Chelsea Wang to perform on August 20^th, featuring works by Pärt, Fauré, Schumann, and Ravel; while violinist Keila Wakao and pianist Dina Vainshtein deliver a program including Schumann, Beethoven, Brahms, and Ravel on August 22^nd.

On August 18^th, members of the New York Philharmonic, violinist Quan Ge, violist Cong Wu, and cellist Nathan Vickery, come together with pianist Yinfei Wang to perform Mozart’s duo, Dohnányi’s string trio, and Mozart’s piano quartet.

Except for the grand finale, held in Jordan Hall on August 23^rd, all concerts, including the competition, take place at NEC’s Williams Hall. All are free and open to the public, though the Foundation suggests $10. Children under 6 are kindly discouraged from attending. The entire calendar can be found HERE.