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Updated news and events

Past events

 

• November 5 - December 4: Project "Mémoire de CHine/Memories of China" - A musical production of Jeunesses Musicales du Canada - Canada Tour.

• July 25, 2004: Liu Fang performed at the WOMAD in Reading, UK, with great success. See Press reviews

• May 20, 2004: Liu Fang and Malcolm Goldste performed their first concert on improvized music in Sreassbour (France), and were warmly received by audience and highly praised in the press. See Critiques from the Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, 23 May 2004.
  

• From February 12 to 29 Liu Fang will be on tour of 8 concerts, presented by Debut Atlantic. The concert on Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2004 at Maritime Conservatory 8:00 p.m. HALIFAX will be recorded live by CBC Radio Two. (click HERE / ICI for detailed schedule and information.)

2003

• Liu Fang performed at the BBC World Service concert at The Mermaid Theatre, London on Friday 7th November 2003. After Liu Fang's performance, Sir Ian McKellen said to the public: "Yes, there was just one musician, but ten talented fingers".

  "BBC World Service is planning a major season this autumn focussing on the realities associated with HIV/AIDS. The season will start in mid-November 2003 and run to World AIDS Day on December 1st. Its highlight will be a concert in London, recorded in advance, for broadcast in all of the 43 World Service Language Services from November 22nd. The current World Service audience across all platforms is in the region of 150 million." (extracted from the invitation letter to Liu Fang from BBC London)

  The concert on November 7 started at 7:45pm. venue is The Mermaid, Puddle Dock, London, EC4. Nearest tube station is Blackfriars. The compere for the whole show is Sir Ian McKellen. Artists besides Liu Fang are: world renowned Russian violinist - Vadim Repin with Lithuanian pianist - Itamar Golan, the legendary African musician - Oliver Mtukudzi, versatile UK singer-songwriter - Daniel Bedingfield, Malian singer - Rokia Traoré, and Lemn Sissay - poet & playwright. For detailed information, visit BBC world Service's website.

• On November 8, 2003, Liu Fang performed live at BBC Radio in London, host: Charlie Gillett, with the comments of "... Masterful, graceful and riveting, ...". As usual, the programme can be heard 'on demand' for the next seven days at the BBC Radio London website: www.bbc.co.uk/london/insideldn/radio/on_demand.shtml.

• The FM radio in London - Resonance - dedicated the one hour for interview and live performance with Liu Fang during her stay in London, hosted by Paul Fisher (www.farsidemusic.com).

• From mid October to end of this year, Liu Fang will give around 40 concerts in a tour across France, and some of them will be in Italy and Germany. (click here for detailed schedule).

• July 2003: WORLD MUSIC NETWORK released "THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF CHINA" (RGNET1122CD), featuring various high profile artists from the 1930s to the present day. Liu Fang is featured as "one of the world's leading players of the pipa".

• On July 11, 2003, the CBC global village will broadcast the radio-concert recorded on April 5. Click here for introduction and music samples given by CBC websit.

• The renowned online magazine about guitar and the related subjects, guitarscape.com, has featured Liu Fang in the cover story in both traditional and simplified Chinese.

• The first book in English about pipa entitled Impressions of a Pipa Player: Profiles of the World's Most Premier by Samuel Wong Shengmiao, Published recently in Singapore. This book combines the auther's experience of pipa learning and interviews of 21 world's leading pipa players from China and abroad (More ...)

• Concerts with the Silk and Steel Ensemble, and duo Liu Fang and Ziya Tabassian, recorded by Radio-Canada (producer: Lorraine Chalifoux) will be broadcasted on May 29, 8pm at 100.7FM (Montreal).

• The March issue of REALM Magazine put a feature in the "limelight" an article about Liu Fang by Natasha Mekhail . Click HERE to see the whole story.

• Philmultic is proud to announce the launching of the 2nd of a series of 3 CDs dedicated to traditional Chinese Pipa music, interpreted by Liu Fang, a masterful Pipa player from Montreal. Celebrated in the press as being "one of the greatest virtuosos", the “empress of Pipa"(L'actualité 2001) is able to transmit in an erudite and significant way the beauty of the ancient music. The repertoire of the current CD, The Soul of Pipa Vol.2, ranges from the ancient tunes to classical pieces of the last centuries, which is meant to reflect the time changes. The Soul of Pipa Vol.1, released last year, consists of 8 pieces of the ancient repertoire anonymously transmitted by the Masters from generation to generation, reflecting the remote past. The next CD will feature repertoires of the folkloric traditions from various geographical regions of China, reflecting the variety of nationalities and their characteristics.

• CBC interview with Liu Fang will be broadcasted on Saturday, March 8, 2003, 5:05pm on the radio 88.5 FM in Quebec. There are one piece performed live and some pieces from her recent CD. Host: Frank Opolko.

• "Dodo la planète do - dreams songs night songs" en nomination pour un Prix Juno: "Album enfants de l'année".

2002

• October 30, 2002: Liu Fang's solo reictal at the Auditorium of Canadian Embassy in Tokyo.
• October 13, 2002: The National Gallery, in collaboration with Radio-Canada CBOX-FM Stereo 102.5, presents Liu Fang on Chinese lute pipa and zither guzheng, accompanied by accomplished percussionist, Ziya Tabassian, as part of the program: Jade, the Ultimate Treasure of Ancient China.
• October 6, 2002: Liu Fang performs with the accomplshed Japanese Taiko player Gary Nagata at the Auditorium of Japanese Embassy in Ottawa
• October 4, 2002: Liu Fang is invited to give a recital at the first meeting of the 5th Advisory Committee for Racial Equality in the Arts, organized by Canada Council for the Arts.
• On July 6-29, 2002, Silk and Steel Ensemble has successfully made a cross Canada tour with 5 music festivals in Halifax, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Vancouver and Calgary. Click here for details.
• On May 23, 2002, Liu Fang gave a public concert with Algerian ud virtuoso Alla in the Auditorium of Radio-France in Paris, produced by Equinoxe (producer: Caroline Bourgine). This concert was broadcasted on March 27, 2002
• On March 27,2002, Liu Fang gave a solo recital at the Centre Pierre-Peladeau, Pierre-Mercure concert hall in Montreal; Two interview articles appeared in the Montreal Gazette and La Press.
• On march 6, Liu Fang premiered the accomplished Canadian composer Melissa Hui's composition for pipa and nine instruments - "Come as you are" with the Society of Contemporary Music of Quebec (SMCQ). This worked is commisioned by the SMCQ with the support from Canada Council for the Arts.

2001

• A review article about Liu Fang was published in the L'actualité with the title: "The empress of pipa" by Pierre Cayouette on 15 décembre 2001.
• The world renowned master of traditional Vietnamese music, Prof. Dr. Tran Van Khe, Liu Fang and Pham Duc Thanh successfully gave a concert on Wednsday October 24, 2001, 8pm, in the Redpath Hall, Mcgill University, Montreal. This concert was recorded by Radio-Canada, producer: Madam Lorraine Chalifoux. (Broacasted on -----).
• Patria Music/Theatre Projects presents a world premiere of the world renowned Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer's Patria 8, "The Palace of the Cinnabar Phoenix", at Wolverton Hills on the Oak Ridges Moraine in September 13-17, 2001. This is a great work combinimg opera fingers with western and Chinese instruments, a genius creation.
• "Liu Fang's Passionate Pipa - Traditional Chinese Music is in Her Heart and Soul": an interview article by Paula E. Kirman - published in "Inside the World Music" on June 24, 2001.
• Liu Fang received the Millenium Prize for young generations on June 5, 2001. This is a special prize awarded to three Canadian outstanding young artists (under 30 years), by the Canada Council for the Arts. (Click HERE for details, or see the press release from the Canada Council for the Arts.
• Dr. Lucie Rault of the Musee de L'Homme in Paris has recently published the book entitled "Traditional Chinese Music" (Actes Sud/Cité de la Musique, 2000, Paris). Accopmanied is a CD with collection of music played on various instruments for DEMO purposes. The first track is Liu Fang's solo performance, "Dance of the Yi People" (Wang Hui-Ran), representing pipa music. This book becomes one of the best sellers, and has received the Gold Prize of Diapason (Diapason d'Or) of the year.
• On Thursday, January 25, 2001, Liu was interviwed by Madam Caroline Bourgine of the Radio-France in Paris and live performed for a whole program of 60 minutes (Producer: Caroline Bourgine, Radio-France(France-Culture). The sinologist Lucie Rault interpreted from Chinese to French during the interview. The broadcasting is scheduled for April 1, 2001.
• On Thursday, January 18, 2001, Liu Fang gave a solo recital with Pipa and Guzheng at Musée de l'Homme (Museum of Civilazation) in Paris, France, presented by Lucie Rault.

2000

• On Saturday, December 9, 2000, Liu Fang performed 3 solo pipa pieces of traditional Chinese music at Concert on the Eiffel Tower (Tour Eiffel) for French Téléthon (TV).
• "Au plaisir, pour le plaisir", TV concert to the honer of Madam Levesque, recorded by Tele-Quebec, which was broadcasted on Sunday, December 3, 2000 at 8:00pm on Tele-Quebec.
• The The Canada Council for the Arts awarded Liu Fang with a grant for individual musician to study Vietnamese, Indian and Persian music (improvisation) with Professor Tran Van Khe in Paris, starting from Novemeber 2000. Prof. Tran Van Khe is world-renowned musicologist, great master of traditional Vietnamese music, Director of Research CNRS, Professor at the University of the Sorbonne in Paris, Honorary member of the International Music Council (UNESCO), Corresponding Member of the European Academy of the Sciences, Letters and Arts. He has produced more than 80 Ph. D.'s in musicology and over 7000 students all over the world. He is regarded as "guru" by many of his students.
• The renowned Industani Slide Guitar master, Debashish Bharracharya, and his ensemble from India, gave a successful tour in Canada in July 2000. Debashish, Liu Fang, and the renowned Bandura player, Julian Kystasty appeared for the first time on the the stage of "The International Virtuosi" at the Winnipeg Folk Music Festival on July 8, 2000. Following this, Debashish and Liu Fang gave another performance at the Festival d'été de Québec, Quebec City. These three international talents met in September again in New York for inspiring musicial conversations. They have formed an ad hoc group, led by Master Debashish Bharracharya, preparing for a great tour in North America for the year 2001, and possibly also in Europe.
• Liu Fang has successfully given a cross Canada tour in July 2000 with the al-ud virtuoso from Berlin (Germany), Farham Sabbagh. The fusion of Chinese and Arabic music has received strong response from public. Click HERE for press reviews. Click view guestbook for more comments. We thank The Canada Council for the Arts for its support to this tour.
• May 10-19, 2000, Liu Fang gave a series of concerts in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto - trio with the famous Japanese Shakuhachi master, Yoshio Kurahashi, from Japan and the world renowned cellist Yegor Dyachkov, including one concert which was recorded by Radio-Canada on May 18, 2000 in Montreal. This concert was broadcasted on Friday (13th october 2000) - 20h 100.7 FM. It's absolutely beautiful. Click here for details.
• April 16, 2000, Liu Fang gave a solo recital at the Music Gallery in Toronto. Click here for details.
• February 11-17, 2000, Liu Fang was invited to perform with the world renowned Nishikawa Ensemble during its Canada Tour. They are going to give another tour in February 2001. Click here for details.

1999
1999 Europa Tour
From September 6 to 28, Liu Fang gave six solo recitals in Germany (Berlin and Karlsruhe).
On September 17, she performed two pipa concerto with Orchetra (composed by Tan Dun and Zhou Long, respectively) at the 5th International CHIME conference in Prague (Conductor: Wang Jin).
On September 20, Liu fang gave the premiere for the piece "Duo" at the BKA concert hall in Berlin. This piece is composed by the Montreal based composer, Ms Chantale Laplant for pipa and cello. Liu Fang performed this piece with Mr. Peter Mann from the German Symphony Orchestra of Berlin. Ms. Laplant will be present at the concert in Berlin for the premier of her work.
Liu Fang premiered Melissa Hui's piece "Rush" (pipa and string quartet) which she has premiered at the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival with four extraordinary young virtuosos Ruggero Allifranchini (violin) Kai Gleusteen (violin) Nokuthula Ngwenyama (viola) and Yegor Dyachkov (cello).
From September 29 - 5 Oct. Liu Fang gave a solo recital in Paris, presented at the Mandapa House by Prof. Tran Van Khe. Click here for comments of the concert.

• September 6 solo recital, Hotel Adlon, Berlin, Germany.
• September 11 & 12 Solo recital, Scloss Glienicke, Berlin, Germany.
• September 17, pipa concerto, 5th International CHIME conference, Prag, Czech Republic.
• September 20 pipa & string quartet, pipa and cello, with musicians from the German Symphony Orchestra of Berlin. BKA Berlin, Germany.
• September 28 solo recital, Internationales Begegnungszentrum, Karlsruhe, Germany.
• October 1 solo recital, Centre Mandapa, Paris, France. Presented by Professor Tran Van Khe.

Concert in Columbia

• November 21 Sala de Conciertos, Biblioteca Luis Angel Ararango, Santaf$B!&(Bde Bogota D. C., Columbia.

• The Concert at the Salle Pierre Mercurre (Centre Pierre Peladeau), 8:00pm, June 13, 1999 entitled "Chinese Traditional Music and the Music of the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907)", supported by The Canada Council for the Arts and recorded by Radio Canada (Chaine culturelle), and was broadcasted on Friday, September 10, 1999 at 8:00pm by Radio-Canada (100.7FM).
• From July 9 to 26, Cross Canada tour from New Branzwick, Quebec City to Vancouver and Calgary.
• On July 28, Liu Fang performed for the Vancouver Chamber Music Festival. Apart from two traditional Chinese pipa solo pieces, she gave the premier for the "Rush" (pipa and string quartet) composed by the accomplished young Canadian Composer, Melissa Hui. The concert is recorded by CBC radio.
• March 20, 1999: The documentary film: The sun rises on the Tian-An-Men Square, Directed, Shui-Po Wang, is nominated for Oscar award for 1999. soundtrack, composed by Melissa Hui, contains pipa music played by Liu Fang.