Chapter 337 Yo-Yo Ma Is Also Going

After hanging up the phone with Akina Nakamori, Zhou Yan stood up to go to the cafeteria, but the phone rang again after he took two steps.

He couldn't help but wonder, could it be that Akina Nakamori and the others had something else to say?

After answering the phone, an excited voice rang, "Teacher Zhou, you have given us a big surprise."

Although the voice on the phone was a little distorted, Zhou Yan still recognized it as Yu Songlin's voice at once.

However, Yu Songlin's words made Zhou Yan feel a little confused. What did he mean by giving them a surprise?

"Captain Yu, where does this surprise come from?" Zhou Yan asked.

"Our group's overseas performance."

This made Zhou Yan even more confused. "Didn't you know about your group's overseas performance a long time ago? How can this be considered a surprise?"

"Haha, it seems that you don't know yet, Teacher Zhou. Now there is a new situation about our group's overseas performance. Zhang Youan called me just now and said that the number of performances has been increased to 32, in 30 cities, 17 cities in the United States, and 13 cities in Europe."

Hearing Yu Songlin's words, Zhou Yan was also quite surprised. He didn't expect Zhang Youan to do such a big thing quietly and raise the scale of the Central Folk Orchestra's performance to such a level.

The scale of this tour is even larger than that of the Piano Youth Orchestra this time.

Of course, the main reason for the Piano Youth Orchestra is that time does not allow it. Otherwise, it would be no problem to hold 30 or 40 performances. Neon alone can hold more than a dozen performances.

In 1987, the Central Orchestra visited the United States, but only held 26 concerts.

Although he didn't know how Zhang Youan did it, Zhou Yan was still very happy for the folk music band. He smiled and said, "Then your band will have a hard time in the future. There are 30 cities in Europe and America. I guess you won't be able to go home for some days."

Thirty-two performances, even if one performance every two days, you won't be able to go home for more than two months, and it's basically impossible to perform once every two days, after all, most of them are in different cities.

The Central Orchestra went to the United States before, and the 26 concerts lasted for 42 days. This was because there were not so many cities where the concerts were held, and they were all in the United States. Unlike this time, they had to fly to Europe and it took a long time on the road.

There is no way to divide them into different cities. The folk music band is not well-known abroad, and the market effect is definitely average. It is difficult to support multiple performances in the same city, at least at this stage.

Unlike the Piano Youth Orchestra, it can hold many performances in many cities, not to mention the main bases such as Neon and China, even in the United States.

The band previously held three performances in Chandler Hall in Los Angeles for three consecutive days, and the tickets for each performance were sold out.

"Yes, according to the plan, the orchestra will spend the New Year outside." Yu Songlin said.

"Then we need to tell the members in advance, the New Year is a big deal."

"Haha, I believe they are all fine. Although the New Year is a big deal, it depends on what it is compared with. However, this performance may delay Qingyinfang's schedule."

Wei Yuru and her friends will definitely go with the Central Folk Orchestra's overseas performance this time.

This matter was agreed before, but the number of performances scheduled before was not large, and the time was not very long, so it would not affect anything.

Now the performances have been increased to more than 30, and Qingyinfang cannot have any work for at least two or three months in the middle, which is indeed a big impact.

Qingyinfang is now very popular in Japan, and various performances have never stopped, and their tickets are getting more and more expensive and easier to sell.

At the beginning, many Japanese fans regarded Qingyinfang as a substitute for the Piano Youth Orchestra, after all, the repertoire they performed overlapped a lot with the Piano Youth Orchestra.

But now, Qingyinfang has accumulated many loyal fans of their own.

Now is also a critical period for Qingyinfang's career to rise. If they have no work for several consecutive months, it will indeed affect their development.

If Qingyinfang signed a contract with an ordinary commercial company, I am afraid they would not let them go, at least not for such a long time.

But when Zhou Yan formed this orchestra, his purpose was to spread Chinese music. Now that the Central Folk Orchestra has such a good opportunity, Qingyinfang must of course give in to them.

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Captain Yu, don't worry about the Qingyinfang incident. Just focus on your group. I'll let Teacher Wei and the others return to China in a few days."

"It doesn't have to be so early. After all, the performance won't start until the end of October, and there are still nearly four months to go."

"Come back early and reserve enough time to practice with the group. Teacher Wei has not practiced with the group much recently, so it's inevitable that she will be a little unfamiliar. It's better to be fully prepared. Their work should be scheduled until the end of this month. I asked them to finish the work that has been decided and not take other work."

Yu Songlin sighed, "Teacher Zhou, thank you for your support for our orchestra. In fact, you have helped us a lot."

"It's not a help, it's just mutual benefit." Zhou Yan smiled, "And I am also a member of folk music, and I also have a responsibility in promoting folk music."

"I'm both happy and touched that you can think so. There's one more thing I want to tell you. After Mr. Zhang told me about the folk band's performance, I reported it to the leader, who also gave me some instructions. Opinion. The program "Memory of the Forbidden City" in the last Spring Festival Gala was well received, so the leader thought that three or four of your songs could be added to the program for this overseas performance. In addition, I I recommend a song called "Journey to the West", do you have any ideas about the other one or two?"

Zhou Yan was not surprised at all when he heard what Yu Songlin said. Adding his music would be a win-win situation for the orchestra and him.

After pondering for a moment, Zhou Yan said, "If there is another one, I propose to add the "Three Kingdoms Suite". After all, the four major masterpieces are still well-known abroad and are also representative."

"Three Kingdoms Suite?" Yu Songlin expressed doubts, "Is it from "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms"?"

Zhou Yan nodded and said, "Well, these are some of the songs I wrote for the soundtrack of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms." When I performed at Neon, I put them together to make a suite. If I want to add them to your program, I’ll rearrange it to make the song richer.”

Yu Songlin smiled and said, "Oh, that's good. I'm quite familiar with the soundtrack of "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". It's very listenable and the style suits our group. But how long is this suite?"

"If I make another version, it will probably take about seven minutes."

"If it's only seven minutes, then one more song can be added. What do you think of this last song, 'The Great Wall'?"

The name "The Great Wall" is very representative, and this song was one of the theme songs during the Olympic bid, so it is indeed suitable to be included.

Zhou Yan nodded, "This song is also okay, but I think that if you want to attract European and American audiences more, you can add "Guanghan Palace" to it. I made a new version of this song for Qingyinfang and then changed it. It’s not difficult. The most important thing is that the album "Yulin Ling" is selling well in Europe and the United States, and "Guanghan Palace" is more famous than the other songs."

Several other pieces of music are indeed representative, but they are not popular enough in Europe and the United States. Zhou Yan believes that if they want to be representative, "Three Kingdoms Suite", "Memory of the Forbidden City" and "Journey to the West Fantasy" are enough. There is no need to add "Wanli's". Great Wall".

Hearing what Zhou Yan said, Yu Songlin also felt that it was very reasonable, "That's true. Since you want to promote it, you still have to consider the feelings of ordinary European and American listeners. In this case, we will study it later and let you know when the track is finalized. "

Zhou Yan nodded and said, "No problem. "Memory of the Forbidden City" and "Journey to the West Fantasy" have ready-made versions that do not need to be modified. It is not difficult to modify the other few songs. After you confirm, I will have time to do it again. "

"Okay, I'll have to work hard for you then."

"You are welcome."

…

After talking to Yu Songlin, Zhou Yan went to the cafeteria to have a meal. After returning to the office, he called Zhang Youan.

Zhang Youan has returned to China and is now in Shanghai.

After receiving Zhou Yan's call, Zhang Youan immediately guessed what he was doing.

"Did Captain Yu Songlin call you?"

"Well, when I first received his call, I was a little confused. I didn't know how I could surprise him."

"After the news was confirmed, I told him first. After learning about it, he was indeed very excited."

"Thirty-two concerts, this is not a small scale. Of course he was excited. But what I'm curious about is how you got it done. This was not the case the last time we talked about this matter." Zhou Yan was curious. road.

Zhang Youan laughed and said, "You think I did nothing during that time in the United States. I contacted many companies for this matter and finally decided on this plan. This time the folk band went on tour in Europe and the United States, it was invited by ICM , The conditions they gave are very good and the planning is very reasonable. ”

"With so many concerts, if we had to do it ourselves, it would be time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the effect might not be good. After all, ICM is doing very well in Europe and the United States, and its channels in all aspects are also very complete."

Zhou Yan has also heard about ICM, which is a very famous agency in Hollywood. Nowadays, ICM is very popular in Europe and the United States. It is said that their annual income can exceed 100 million US dollars.

ICM's business scope is very broad and has now expanded to the publishing, theater and television news industries in several major European countries.

I heard that their company also wanted to enter the film industry, but it failed due to antitrust laws.

If you are invited by ICM, you really don’t have to worry too much.

"I just said that Yu Songlin said that the concert will not start until the end of October. But I remember that you said before that you rented the Golden Hall in September? Does it mean that the schedule has been changed? Do you still want to go to the Golden Hall?"

"Of course I still have to go to the Golden Hall, but the time has been postponed. I will go to Carnegie Hall first in November."

Zhou Yan felt relieved when he heard that the trip to the Golden Hall was not cancelled, but just postponed. He still valued performing at the Golden Hall.

Going to the Golden Hall will not only enhance the reputation of the orchestra, but more importantly, it can enhance the self-confidence of the orchestra members.

Just imagine, the band members have even been to the Golden Hall, will there be any psychological pressure if they go to other places?

Before, Wei Yuru and Wang Ciheng only performed three concerts in Los Angeles. After returning, their state changed drastically. The big stage has a huge impact on performers.

From the perspective of ordinary people, when they heard that the orchestra had held a concert in the Golden Hall, the feeling was completely different.

In fact, it is also good to go to Carnegie Hall first. After all, Carnegie is also one of the world's top concert halls. Carnegie has a long history and many famous artists have performed there. When it was first established, Tchaikovsky was the guest conductor of the premiere of the concert hall.

Nowadays, being able to perform in Carnegie Hall has become a symbol of success, just like the Golden Hall.

"If it's November, I should have a chance to go and see it live."

"If you have time and can perform on stage, you will play a few of your songs in the program of this tour. Do you know about this?"

"Yes, Director Yu told me that it was the instructions of the leadership."

"The leadership instructions are one aspect, and ICM also made suggestions. As a purely commercial agency, ICM naturally does not do anything without profit. They are willing to invite the Central Chinese Orchestra to hold a tour because Wei Yuru and Wang Ciheng performed very well in your concert at the end of last year, which caused a wave of sensation in the United States. Popularity. If we can add your music to the program, the tickets will definitely sell much better. "

Zhou Yan nodded, "It should be no problem to go to the scene, as for whether to go on stage or not, we'll talk about it later."

"If conditions permit, you can still go on stage for fun, which is beneficial to you, the folk music orchestra and ICM. Oh, there is one more thing I want to tell you. This time ICM is not only going to promote the Central Folk Music Orchestra, but also has another purpose, which is to promote their cellist Ma Yo-Yo. Do you know this Ma Yo-Yo?"

Hearing Ma Yo-Yo's name, Zhou Yan's eyebrows twitched.

How could he not know Ma Yo-Yo? He is the world's top cello player and a well-deserved classical violin master. Moreover, Ma Yo-Yo's fame is not limited to the classical music world, but also spans multiple fields. He is also very good at modern music and has also performed in film soundtracks.

However, Zhang Youan asked this question, and Zhou Yan also expressed his understanding, because Ma Yo-Yo's international fame is not as great as it was later.

If Zhou Yan remembered correctly, Yo-Yo Ma should be about 40 years old now.

Although Yo-Yo Ma is a genius, became famous very early, and entered Carnegie Hall to perform in his teens, he cannot be called a top master now.

Hearing that Yo-Yo Ma would also go, Zhou Yan wanted to go to the scene even more. (End of this chapter)