NEW YORK, Dec. 24 -- The New York Philharmonic will welcome the Year of the Rat with its annual Lunar New Year Concert and Gala on Jan. 28 at Lincoln Center, featuring classic Chinese and American musical pieces as well as some new works by emerging artists.

The program of the event will include violin concerto The Butterfly Lovers with American violinist Gil Shaham as soloist, and George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with Shanghai-born pianist Zhang Haochen in his Philharmonic debut.

The Butterfly Lovers, which tells a story that resembles a Romeo and Juliet tale, debuted in 1959 in Shanghai. As one of the most acclaimed violinist in the world, Shaham recorded the concerto with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra in 2007 with an interpretation that blended both Chinese and Western music styles.

Shanghai-born pianist Zhang Haochen, Gold Medalist of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, studied with American classical pianist Gary Graffman, who was the soloist for the New York Philharmonic's performance of Rhapsody in Blue on the soundtrack of Woody Allen's 1979 film Manhattan.

The concert will be conducted by world-renowned Chinese conductor Yu Long, who is currently vice president of the Chinese Musicians Association and artistic director and chief conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra.

Yu has conducted a highly acclaimed list of orchestras throughout the world, including the New York, Los Angeles, Munich, and Tokyo philharmonic orchestras. He also collaborates frequently with many of the world's most celebrated soloists, such as Lang Lang, Yo-Yo Ma, and Wang Yujia.

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