The 2025 China Now Music Festival concludes with a dynamic 3-part program of multi-sensory and multi-disciplinary performances, featuring propulsive percussion, contemporary dance, and a new chamber opera. The Bard East/West Ensemble performs, comprising of a Western string quintet, seven Chinese instrumentalists, and two percussionists, with Jindong Cai conducting.

The chamber opera M. Butterfly premiered in the summer of 2023, featuring a libretto in English by Pan Geng and music by Ma Hanrui, inspired by David Henry Hwang’s acclaimed play M. Butterfly. This production weaves together three vocal roles—a tenor (Eric Finbarr Carey), a baritone (Nathaniel Sullivan), and a male dan from Peking Opera (Xiangwei Wu)—supported by the Bard East/West Ensemble’s unique fusion of Chinese and Western instruments. The opera tells the tragic story of a French diplomat entangled in his own "Madame Butterfly" fantasy, with a twist. Elegant and unsettling, M. Butterfly explores themes of identity, deception, and the devastating power of cultural myth.

Tickets available in mid-August.