Chamber Music

Forty young musicians of the China Youngsters Chamber Orchestra will hold a chamber music concert.

Lead by conductor He Rong, the young musicians will feature Chinese and foreign classical works, including excerpts from Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky, Symphony No 10 by Mendelssohn, and Chinese works like Nice Night and Homesick Tunes.

Tickets: 10-30 yuan (US$1.20-3.61)

Time/date: 2:30 pm, March 30

Location: Concert Hall of China National Library, Zhongguancun Nandajie

Tel: 8854-5731

Beethoven Showcased

China Philharmonic Orchestra will feature another concert featuring Beethoven's works.

Ryusuke Numajiri will conduct. Michel Bourdoncle will play the piano.

Programme: Piano Concerto No 4 in G Major, Op 58, and Symphony No 4 in flat B Major, Op 60.

Tickets: 50-380 yuan (US$6.02-45.78)

Time/date: 7:30 pm, March 30

Location: Poly Theatre, Dongsi Shitiao

Tel: 6500-1188 ext 5176

Worldwide Folklore

Musicians of traditional Chinese music from both China's mainland and Taiwan will gather together for a concert featuring plucked stringed instruments.

Taiwan conductor Chen Ruqi will hold the baton. Musicians including Taipei Liuqin Chamber Orchestra and mainland musicians Zhang Xinhua, Lei Qun'an and others will perform.

Programmes include Nights in the Outskirts of Moscow, Merry Bordering Town, Camel Bells on the Silk Road, Songs with No Words, Love Songs in the Torch Festival, as well as Northern People's Life Sketches: Horse Racing, Reindeer Shepherding, Fishing and Hunting.

Tickets: 30-200 yuan (US$3.61-24.09)

Time/date: 7:30 pm, March 30

Location: Concert Hall of China National Library, Zhongguancun Nandajie

Tel: 8854-5731

Light Tunes

The Light Music Troupe of China National Song and Dance Ensemble is to stage a concert in April. Programmes include the Japanese work The Spring of the Northern Nation, Strauss' The Blue Danube Waltz, as well as songs by vocal soloists, The Same Song, Beautiful Spanish Maidens, Memories and others.

Time/date: 2:30 pm, April 6

Location: Concert Hall of China National Library, Zhongguancun Nandajie

Tel: 8854-5731

Russian Poems

A so-called Russian Romance - Poems and Symphonic Concert will be featured. Under the baton of Lin Tao, 33, the Siberian Philharmonic Orchestra is to play works by Russian composers including Tchaikovsky. Dozens of Chinese film dubbers, actors and actresses will recite Russian poems by Pushkin and others.

Tickets: 80-680 yuan (US$9.63-81.92)

Time/date: 7:30 pm, March 28, 29

Location: Great Hall of the People, to the west of Tian'anmen Square

Tel: 8511-2828

Tunes from Ireland

The Irish Chamber Orchestra, regarded as one of Ireland's most distinguished ensembles, is to tour China. Pianist Hae Jung Kim from South Korea, will be invited to perform solos.

Programme: T C Kelly's O Carolan Suite, Raymond Deane's A Fire Was In My Head, Shostakovich's Piano Concerto No 1, Op 35 and Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

Tickets: 80-880 yuan (US$9.63-106.02)

Time/date: 7:30 pm, March 28

Location: Forbidden City Concert Hall, in the Zhongshan Park to the north of Tian'anmen Square

Tel: 6568-5257, 6568-5271

Easter

On Easter Eve, French master Gabriel Faure's Requiem is paired with his countryman Francis Poulenc's exuberant and beautiful Gloria. The concert is given by the International Festival Chorus, 70 singers from a dozen countrieswhose assured performances over the past year have earned them a high profile on the local classical music scene. The Chorus is joined by solo soprano Zhang Gengwei and baritone Li Yunkuan. Chorus and orchestra are conducted by Nicholas Smith.

Time/date: 7.30 pm, April 19

Location: Forbidden City Concert Hall, Zhongshan Park

Tickets: 30-380 yuan (US$3.61-45.78)

Tel: 6559-8285

Drama

Three in One

With ten actors performing 28 roles, the so-called Miraculous Persons in Worldly Life by Kongzheng (The Political Department of the Airforce) Drama Troupe is on, based on the same-titled short novel by Feng Jicai, selecting three figures from the tersely written story, centering on the theme of falseness and genuineness in various aspects of arts and life.

Tickets: 80 yuan (US$9.63)

Time/date: 7:15 pm, March 21-28

Location: Small Theatre of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, 22, Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District

Tel: 6525-0123

Movie

Judge Mom (Faguan Mama)

Directed by Mu Deyuan, the new release is based on the true stories of Judge Shang Xiuyun, whose justice and generosity have moved many young criminals to get back on the straight and narrow. It won the Best Film award at the Chinese Hundred Flowers Film Festival.

Zhang Shuai, 15, was sentenced to prison by the female judge, An Hui. On his release, he looks into the matter and finds out that before his mother's death, she had sold one of her kidneys and sent the proceeds to the judge hoping that the judge could help keep her son out of jail.

The enraged Zhang goes to query the judge, but finds out there is a lot more behind the story. In Chinese with English subtitles.

Tickets: 40 yuan (US$4.81)

Time/date: 8 pm, March 21, 22

Location: Cherry Lane Movies, to the east of Century Theatre, Liangmaqiaolu

Tel: 6430-1398

I Forgot I Don't Remember

A 2001 production by director Juan Pablo Rulfo, the film was a winner in both the Sundance Film Festival and the Montreal Film Festival.

Before the main attraction, a short film, Grandfather Cheno's Stories, also directed by Juan Pablo Rulfo, will be screened.

In Spanish with English subtitles.

Tickets: Free

Time/date: 7:30 pm, March 26

Location: the Mexican Embassy Cultural Office inside the embassy, 5 Dong Wu Jie, Sanlitun

Tel: 6532-2244

From Italy

Pane e tulipani (Bread and Tulips), directed by Silvio Soldini in 1999.

Rosalba is a married housewife in Pescara with teenage sons. She has been married since the age of 21 to a plumbing supplier, whose mistress is her sister-in-law. By chance she follows a whim and arrives in Venice, where she meets a diffident, formal Icelander, befriends a holistic masseuse, and gets a job in a flower shop. Her husband sends a portly plumber to find her. But will she return to her former life? Or stay to find her true Italian self? In Italian with Chinese subtitles.

Tickets: Free

Time/date: 7 pm, March 27

Location: the Italian Embassy Cultural Office inside the embassy, 2, Dong Er Jie, Sanlitun

Tel: 6532-2187

Art

Great Han Series

Wang Lifeng's paintings are abstract. He includes a lot of readable signals such as words, rubbings from a stone inscription, silk, and traditional drawings. These signals heavy with Chinese traditional culture make his abstract paintings comprehensible.

Time/date: 10 am-5 pm, April 5-30

Location: Red Gate Gallery, Dongbianmen Watchtower, Chongwenmen

Tel: 6525-1005

Text & Subtext

Asian women artists from China, Singapore, Thailand, India, South Korea, Japan, Viet Nam, Indonesia and the Philippines have been showcased at Xray Art Center since it was launched in Singapore in 2000.

Different analysis and understanding about the diversity of culture, nation, customs and sex is the focus of what these artists aim to tackle. The exhibition is expected to gather what these women artists are concerned about. Many are amateur artists pursing their passion alongside their roles as wives and mothers.

Time/date: 10 am-6 pm, March 30-May 3

Location: 3rd floor, 58A Gaojing, Chaoyang Lu

Tel: 8576-6680 ext 3003

Joint Show

Four artists at Qin Gallery are jointly staging an oil exhibition.

Soldiers painted by Liu Fenghua resemble the image of the unearthed Qin terracotta army. Only these are equipped with funny modern touches that recall members of the Red Guard 30 years ago. The tragic heroism reflected on the young faces of the soldier seem to tell a story of its own.

Xiao Hong focuses on figures on an ancient fresco that she updated with modern techniques and language. Xiao Se employs bold noble colours to depict the intricacy of social relations in a humorous way. And Yu Xiaodong pursues the purity he felt when travelling in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Time/date: 9:30 am-7 pm until March 31

Location: 1-1E Huaweili, north of Beijing Curio City

Tel: 8779-0461

Hysterical Universe

A total of seven artists from different parts of the world are to jointly stage a "hysterical" show at the Yan Club.

Each have been in Beijing for at least a year and some much longer. They present the different universe in their minds through paintings, sculptures and other art pieces.

Time/date: 10 am-8 pm, April 21-25

Location: 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu

Tel: 8457-3506

Happy Birthday

On the occasion of Schoeni Art Gallery's 1st anniversary, on Thursday 10th April from 6 to 9 pm the gallery will celebrate the opening of its second exhibition of China's leading contemporary artists. Ashanti wines from South Africa will be served.

Time/date: 11 am-7 pm

Location: Tower B-904, SOHO New Town, 88 Jianguo Lu

Tel: 8580-2141

The World of Women

Female artists including Chen Shuxia and Li Linying are showcasing their works which aim to reveal the thoughts and feelings of women.

Time/date: 10 am-9 pm until March 26

Location: north end of Xiushui Dongjie

Tel: 6586-0344

Heritage of China

The ongoing exhibition of Chinese natural heritage at the National Museum of China has been extended for another two months.

The exhibition features a total of 28 miniature replicas of landscapes approved by the UN as world natural heritages across China. The show allows people to "travel" all the scenic sites within an hour. In addition, cultural relics, sculptures and photos elaborating different spots are displayed.

Time/date: 9 am-4 pm until May 7

Location: east side of Tian'anmen Square

Tel: 6526-3355

Pool of Light

Illusive, contradictory paintings full of mystery, ambiguous liquid and a strong city ambience created by artist Xiong Yu from Sichuan is on show at Yanhuang Art Centre.

Time/date: 9 am-5 pm, March 22-April 2

Location: 9 Huizhong Lu

Tel: 6493-5334

Welcome Back

Hualai Gallery will hold an art exhibition displaying watercolours, prints and miniatures of the buildings of old Beijing on April 12 to celebrate its relocation to Novotel Peace Hotel.

Time/date: 2-6 pm, April 12

Location: 3 Jinyu Hutong

Tel: 6512-8833 ext 6716

Spanish Treat

Art works by Spanish contemporary artist Eduardo Urculo depicting trendy changes in Spanish art circles and himself during the past four decades are being shown at China Millennium Monument.

Time/date: 9 am-5 pm until April 8

Location: 9A Fuxing Lu

Tel: 6857-3281

(Beijing Weekend March 25, 2003)