The second project in the California Composition series is GOLD MOUNTAIN, a tribute to the Chinese in California.

Goals for the Gold Mountain Project

• To celebrate significant achievements of the Chinese in California
• To bring attention to Chinese history through music and art
• To honor specific members of the Chinese community
• To introduce audiences to exciting living artists
• To show that classical music can express contemporary concerns and emotions  
• To nurture the development of living composers and artists.

Commissions & World Premieres

1. Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra by Gang Situ (premiered January 13, 2007)
2. Chinese American Symphony by Jon Jang (premiered April 28, 2007). 
   Both were conducted by Michael Morgan, Music Director of the Sacramento Philharmonic.

Residencies
Composer & artist residencies invite the public into the creative process. This builds excitement about the works, makes the world of the living composer something which can be shared and offers a period of mutual exploration between artist and audience, which benefits both.

• February, 2006   Introduction of the Gold Mountain Composers (Jang & Situ) to the regional community.
• July-October, 2006  Telling Our Stories  A project to gather oral histories of Chinese elders.  Project leader is artist Flo Oy Wong.  Among stories to be collected are those from Locke, California and stories of Sacramento families.
• June, 2006 Telling My Story.  A week-long summer workshop for regional students on how music can express identity.  Students create their own “musical identity” compositions, with an informal presentation for family, friends and the public.
• November, 2006 Jang & Situ Lecture-Performance  Residency culminates in a lecture-performance at the Guild Theater (Sacramento) with Jon Jang & Gang Situ and musicians from the Sacramento Philharmonic.
• January, 2007  Gang Situ residency with the orchestra, culminates in January 13 premiere of Concerto for Guitar & Orchestra. 
• February , 2007 Art Expressing Identity  Black History Month & Chinese New Year.  Installation at 40 Acres Gallery (Sacramento) by visual artist Flo Oy Wong, whose work tells the extraordinary stories of Chinese in America.  Wong also explores a symbiotic relationship between African-Americans and Chinese-Americans in the South during segregation. 
• April, 2007 Jon Jang residency with the orchestra, culminating in April 28 premiere of Chinese American Symphony, dedicated to Philip Choy. 

Sacramento has been described as “one of the most diverse” regions in the country and, according to census data, is becoming increasingly so.  Symphony orchestras, however, are frequently accused of being Euro-centric and elitist, labels which create barriers to attracting broad audiences and satisfying the needs and interests of a changing population. The California Compositions projects address these issues and demonstrate that music is a unique language, with the capacity to bring diverse audiences together, to invite dialogue, to foster understanding of cultural differences and to celebrate human achievement.

 

 The Sacramento Philharmonic Orchestra would like to thank the following for sponsoring the

Gold Mountain project.

 

Argosy Foundation

The James Irvine Foundation

National Endowment for the Arts 

National University, Sacramento

 George and Mary Alice Basye

Ed and Jane Goldman

Charles Preston and Rita Gibson

Burnett and Mimi Miller

Pfund Family Foundation

Peter and Jennifer Basye Sander

Dan and Christine Santo

Miles Treaster

Chancellor Larry N. Vanderhoef and the Offices of the Chancellor and Provost, UC Davis

Ed Weidner