Musicians perform during the 8th Chinese New Year Concert by New York Philharmonic Orchestra at Lincoln Center in New York, the United States, Feb. 6, 2019. The Chinese New Year Concert by New York Philharmonic Orchestra was held here on Wednesday to celebrate the Year of the Pig. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

The New York Philharmonic will welcome the Year of the Rat with its annual Lunar New Year Concert and Gala on January 28 at the Lincoln Center in New York, featuring classic Chinese and US musical pieces as well as some new works by emerging artists.

The program of the event will include violin concerto The Butterfly Lovers with US 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 US 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.

The concert will also see the US premiere of Chinese-American composer Zhou Tian's Gift, and the New York premiere of South Korean composer Texu Kim's Spin-Flip.

A gala will also be held on the night with Mr and Mrs Maurice R. Greenberg as the honorary chairs. 

Money raised on the gala will be used for holding free concerts of the philharmonic and education programs for students in New York.

The New York Philharmonic has welcomed the Chinese Lunar New Year with an annual celebration since 2012. The Chinese Lunar New Year of 2020 falls on January 25.