McGroarty Arts Center in Tujunga will be holding its free annual summer concert featuring the Chinese Classical Music Ensemble, with virtuoso on Chinese yangqin (hammered dulcimer), dizi (bamboo flute), guzheng (long zither) and erhu (2-string fiddle). The concert is 4:00pm - 5:30pm on Sunday, August 21, 2011 outdoors at the McGroarty Arts Center. Guests are encouraged to bring chairs or cushions and a picnic for this relaxed concert under the oaks.  The event is FREE and open to the public.

Founded and directed by composer Zhiming Han, the Chinese Classical Music Ensemble has performed classical and original repertoires on Chinese and Western instruments in numerous concerts and soundtracks for more than a decade. They have collaborated and performed with organizations such as the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra and the San Francisco Symphony.  In 2002 and 2006, this group’s enthusiastic performance at the LA Music Center was featured in a highlight broadcast that aired nationally on PBS. The ensemble also performs for educational, entertainment, and cultural enrichment in programs featuring music, dancing, and acrobatics.

The talented musicians are: Zhiming Han, an award winning film composer, producer and Chinese butterfly harp and Chinese bamboo flute virtuoso; Cynthia Hsiang, acclaimed Chinese zither soloist and ethnomusicology expert; Yunhe Liang, erhe and piano solo recording artist, and commended performer; and Tom Pedrini, famous and well-versed composer and bass guitar player with performance credits with the world’s best orchestras.

Access to world music at this scale happens at McGroarty Arts Center through their annual summer concert. This concert is sponsored by County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich and the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, who for three years have helped bring the some of the best musicians, producers, composers, and artists in the world to the Sunland-Tujunga community.

McGroarty Arts Center is a well-known gem located in the Sunland-Tujunga community, just off of the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Plainview Avenue. The McGroarty house, built in 1923, is run by a nonprofit in partnership with the City of Los Angeles. Aside from shows and exhibitions, the Center offers affordable art instruction for children and adults in music and performing arts, creative writing, and a variety of visual arts, including ceramics. 

Programs at McGroarty Arts Center are funded by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Los Angeles, California Community Foundation, Annenberg Foundation, Ahmanson Foundation, Herb Alpert Foundation, Green Foundation, Weingart Foundation, Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, James Irvine Foundation, Los Angeles County Arts Commission and Experience LA, California Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts.