In its first performing season, Qingxin Ensemble will give eight concerts at the Anglican Art Centre, the home to the historic Anglican Church. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Moving from the traditional concert hall venue, young ensemble plays to a wider audience. 

It was a chilly winter Sunday on Nov 13. Nattily dressed visitors strolled through the Anglican Art Centre, a new hub in Tianjin and the home to the historic Anglican Church, a typical Gothic style architecture.

Some paused to admire the facade of the old building, which was designed by British Sinologist and architect Arthur Christopher Moule. The construction started in 1900 and ended three years later.

Yet the prime attraction was taking place inside the church that night. About 200 people had come to listen to the Qingxin Ensemble perform a diversity of programs.

The concert was opened by a music piece=[ from the Baroque era, Concerto Grosso in D major, op. 6 no. 5, HWV323 by George Frideric Handel, the German-born English composer. The ensemble also performed two contemporary music works during the first half of the concert: Entr'acte for string quartet by American composer Caroline Shaw and Song of the Ch'in by Chinese-American composer Zhou Long.

The second half of the concert saw them play Lua Descolorida, the second of the three songs for soprano and string orchestra written by Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov. To warm applause, they closed the concert with the Holberg Suite by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.

"The connection is really palpable," recalls violinist He Yujie, one of the founding members of the Qingxin Ensemble, adding that the tickets for the concert on Nov 13 sold out after about 20 minutes, which was beyond the ensemble's expectation.

The concert opened the ensemble's first performing season, which will bring eight concerts to the Anglican Church until next May.

With a theme of "Soundscape of History & Modernity", the ensemble will perform music pieces from different eras and with different styles. They will also work with a number of musicians, including violinist Yu Xiang, double bassist Zhang Daxun, oboist Liu Mingjia and clarinetist Zhou Xiangyu.

"We are very excited to have our first performing season at the Anglican Church. It's quite different from performing at concert halls where we usually perform. That's what we want from the very beginning — chamber music takes place in venues as diverse as the music itself," says He.

Founded in 2021, the Qingxin Ensemble gathers young musicians, who graduated from the Tianjin Juilliard School and the Juilliard School in New York, as well as students from the two schools who are still pursuing their music studies.

Qingxin refers to "chasing evergreen artistry with a young heart". The average age of the ensemble is about 27. Members of the ensemble currently live and work in Tianjin and Beijing.

According to He, most of the members of the ensemble had studied abroad and returned to China, hoping to pursue their music dream in their home country.

People are attracted to a performance by the Qingxin Ensemble outside the Tianjin Juilliard campus. [Photo provided to China Daily]

"For many young classical musicians, especially new graduates, who are deeply concerned about their careers, COVID-19 poses a great challenge with public events unable to go ahead and performing venues closed. With this ensemble, we hope to learn the art of entrepreneurship, assisting young classical musicians with the process of creating their own musical niches, building an audience following," says He, who was born in Sichuan province and studied at the New England Conservatory, where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree. In 2018, He studied at the Juilliard School in New York, where she gained her Master of Music degree.

"For many of us, who received classical training as children, we aim to find jobs at professional symphony orchestras or music schools after graduation. But we have to live with the changes brought by the coronavirus pandemic, so we expanded our vision for career," says violist Liu Zhangjuan, also a founding member of the Qingxin Ensemble.

Besides her role in the ensemble, Liu is also the violist of the MILA Quartet, the inaugural graduate chamber music fellowship quartet of the Tianjin Juilliard School.

In the fall of 2020, the MILA Quartet, a string group consisting of Zhu Ke and Ci Huan, both violinists, violist Liu and Lyu Xinyang, a cellist, was offered a full scholarship of a two-year master of music degree in chamber music at Tianjin Juilliard, taking classes in the morning and having many late-night rehearsals.

"We all have the experience of playing chamber music since it's part of our education in college. There's a sense of excitement of discovering the joy of chamber music in our early careers," says Liu.

Liu was born in Chengdu and received her bachelor's degree at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore. She also holds master's degrees in viola performance and chamber music from Rice University's Shepherd School of Music in Houston, Texas.

The Tianjin Juilliard, the first overseas campus of the New York-based Juilliard School, also shows great support to those young musicians by forming a partnership with the Qingxin Ensemble. Besides collaborating with the ensemble on performances, creative projects and lectures, the Tianjin school also provides rehearsal space and performance opportunities to the young ensemble. The school's faculty are also invited as guest artists to perform side by side with the ensemble.

In July, the Qingxin Ensemble gave an outdoor concert outside the Tianjin Juilliard campus beside the Haihe River, which attracted thousands of appreciative spectators. The program featured music works by composers such as Maurice Ravel and Dmitri Shostakovich as well as music pieces adapted from Chinese folk music pieces.

"It was our first public concert and we were very nervous," recalls He Yujie. "When we saw the warm reaction of the audience, who enjoyed music through our programming, we were thrilled."

He Wei, CEO of the Tianjin Juilliard, says the school encourages and supports students to perform outside concert halls to bring music to a wider audience.

"The founding of the Qingxin Ensemble shows the young musicians' passion for chamber music and their own way of communicating with the audiences outside the concert halls. Their programs are creative and rewarding."

According to He Yujie, during her studies at Juilliard in New York, one of her most compelling experiences was performing at a local hospital. That experience reshaped her artistic vision and values, and made her believe in the power of music to unite and connect people.

The ensemble also embodies Juilliard's values through their roles as artist-citizens and forays into musical entrepreneurship. Performing outside concert halls, such as libraries for children and senior homes, will be an important part of their future plan, He Yujie says.