Award-winning accordionist to participate in Chinese New Year Celebrations at Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –Tian Jianan will bring the bayan, a chromatic button-keyboard accordion, to the Purdue Memorial Union South Ballroom at 8 p.m. Jan. 30 to celebrate the Chinese New Year.

This general admission performance is presented by Purdue Convocations with campus support from the Confucius Institute at Purdue and the Purdue Asian-American and Asian Resource and Cultural Center. The performance is one of several campus activities in celebration of the Chinese New Year.

Jianan, of Beijing, plays the bayan, a special chromatic-button keyboard accordion developed in Russia, and used to perform classical or contemporary classical music. Still a student at the Central Conservatory of Music in China, Tian, 21, has accumulated no fewer than 31 first-place finishes worldwide at competitions in Italy, Germany, Russia, New Zealand and Canada.

Todd Wetzel, director of Convocations, encountered Tian while traveling in China in November 2014, and began planning a program that will include a collection of new compositions, iconic works and special traditional surprises.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for those 18 years and younger, Purdue students and Ivy Tech Lafayette students. Tickets are available at the Stewart Center box office at 765-494-3933 or 800-914-SHOW. Group tickets are also available to groups of 10 more. Call 765-496-1977 for more details or visit https://purdue.edu/convocations/group-sales/

Initiated in 1902, Purdue Convocations was one of the first professional performing arts presenters in the United States. Each year, Convocations offers the region 30-40 performances of widely varying genres. Purdue Convocations aims to promote frequent exposure to and familiarity with human cultural expression in a multitude of forms and media.

The Confucius Institute will be hosting an all-campus Chinese New Year reception to celebrate the Year of the Monkey, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Feb. 8 in the Purdue Memorial Union South Ballroom. The event is free and open to the public, and includes food, music, dragon dances and traditional and children's songs. 

Source: Abby Eddy, Purdue Convocations director of marketing, 765-494-9712, aeeddy@purdue.edu 

Note to Journalists: Publication-quality photos are available at http://www.convocations.org/press