What's on

On Stage

The Story of Jade Hairpin

The Taiwanese writer Pai Hsien-yung is known to theater lovers because of his production of the classic Kunqu Opera The Peony Pavilion. After this huge success, he has again cooperated with the Suzhou Kunqu Opera Theatre of Jiangsu Province for another Kunqu Opera, The Story of Jade Hairpin. Written in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the opera is one of the 10 traditional comedies of Chinese opera, telling a love story between a Taoist nun and a young scholar.

Date: November 21, 7:15 pm

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center 上海東方藝術中心

Address: 425 Dingxiang Road

丁香路425號

Tickets: 80 to 680 yuan

Call 6854-1234 for details

Anton Kuerti Piano Recital

Anton Kuerti is an Austrian-born, Canada-based pianist, music teacher, composer and conductor. Since his performance of a Grieg piano concerto with the Boston Pops Orchestra at the age of 11, he has developed an international reputation as a solo pianist, particularly focusing on the works of Beethoven. Kuerti has also performed at more than 150 community projects throughout Canada. His recordings include all of the Beethoven concertos and sonatas, the Schubert sonatas, the Brahms concertos, and works by many other composers. In 2008 he was awarded the Canadian Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

Date: November 16, 7:30 pm

Venue: He Luting Concert Hall

賀綠汀音樂廳

Address: 20 Fenyang Road

汾陽路20號

Tickets: 80 to 380 yuan

Call 6431-1792 for details

Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan

The renowned choreographer Lin Hwai-min, the founder of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan, established Cloud Gate 2 in 1998, as Cloud Gate reached its 25th anniversary. The new dance company provides a platform for young choreographers and after 13 years of development, four choreographers from Cloud Gate 2 have won awards internationally. The dance group toured the US in February and made its debut in Europe in August. For the Shanghai performance, they will perform mixed programs with some of their signature works including Wicked Fish, The Wall and Tantalus.

Date: November 16 to 18, 80 to 580 yuan

Venue: Shanghai Art Theater

藝海劇院

Address: 466 Jiangning Road

江寧路466號

Tickets: 80 to 580 yuan

Call 6256-8282 for details

San Francisco Symphony 2012 Shanghai Concert

Last year, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) celebrated its centenary. Since early times, the SFS has been regarded as one of the most prestigious orchestras in the world. It has won a Grammy award for its Mahler cycle of works. The SFS's Shanghai concert will be joined by 25-year-old pianist, Wang Yujia, who has already performed with many of the world's best orchestras including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the SFS since her 2005 debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra led by Pinchas Zukerman. For these shows in Shanghai under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas, the music director of SFS, they will perform Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2, American composer, Lou Silver Harrison's "The Family of the Court" from Pacifika Rondo and Mahler's Symphony No. 5.

Date: November 14 and 15, 7:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai Oriental Art Center 上海東方藝術中心

Address: 425 Dingxiang Road

丁香路425號

Tickets: 180 and 300 yuan

Call 6854-1234 for details

The Red Detachment of Women

Premiered in 1964, The Red Detachment of Women is one of the longest running ballet dramas in China, and is the signature work of the National Ballet of China. The story takes place on Hainan Island in 1930s, and tell of a girl slave who escapes from her landlord, and becomes a soldier. The ballet was adapted from a 1961 film of the same name, and based on the true stories of an all-female military detachment on Hainan Island. The show is best-known in the West as the ballet that was performed for the former US president Richard Nixon on his visit to China in February 1972.

Date: November 16 to 17, 7:15 pm

Venue: Shanghai Culture Square 上海文化廣場

Address: 597 Fuxing Road Middle 復興中路597號

Tickets: 80 to 600 yuan

Call 5461-9961 for details

Elton John and His Band

Sir Elton Hercules John is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor. In his four-decade career John has sold more than 250 million records, making him one of the most successful recording artists of all time. His single "Candle in the Wind 1997" has sold more than 33 million copies worldwide, and is the best-selling single in the history of the UK Singles Chart and the US Billboard Hot 100. He has won six Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award and a Tony Award. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him Number 49 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time.

Date: November 23, 8 pm

Venue: Mercedes-Benz Arena

梅賽德斯-奔馳文化中心

Address: 1200 Expo Avenue

世博大道1200號

Tickets: 280 to 2,500 yuan

Call 3899-6688 for details

Exhibitions

Liang Weizhou Solo Exhibition

Artist Liang Weizhou's latest photographs and works on paper are presented in this exhibition entitled Post-Jiang'nan (Jiang'nan means the area to the south of Yangtze River). Born in 1962, the Shanghainese painter has become known over the past fifteen years for his expressionist paintings, and he has also gained critical acclaim and exposure for his series of photography-based works. This will be the artist's third solo exhibition at the gallery, and his works have been shown in Germany, Denmark, Japan, Russia and Sweden.

Date: Until December 30, 10 am to 6 pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), midday to 6 pm (Sundays), Mondays by appointment only

Venue: m97 Gallery m97畫廊

Address: 2/F, 97 Moganshan Road 莫干山路97號2樓

Admission: Free

Call 6266-1597 for details

Women in China

Singaporean artist Dayang van Wezel's works use mixed mediums to celebrate women's perspectives as powerful people throughout the history in China. Portuguese artist Mafi Santo's oil paintings are inspired by ordinary women's daily lives in Shanghai today. This exhibition reveals an understanding of Chinese people's day-to-day life and of Chinese culture as a whole.

Date: November 17 to December 16, 2 pm to 9:30 pm (closed on Mondays)

Venue: Noeli Gallery

Address: 150 Yueyang Road

岳陽路150號

Admission: Free

Call 6431-9442 for details