Liu Fang pipa and guzheng solo recital in Toronto, Canada

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE / PLEASE RETAIN FOR LISTINGS

CHINESE VIRTUOSO LIU FANG BOTH DELICATE AND DYNAMIC
– A SMALL WORLD MUSIC PRESENTATION

LIU FANG

Traditional Pipa & guzheng music from China

Thursday, November 13 @ 8:00 pm

Enwave Theatre, 231 Queens Quay West
Tickets: $30 advance @ 416 973-4000 / harbourfrontcentre.com
Website: www.liufangmusic.net / www.philmultic.com
You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bof1GlvAo0

“Masterful, graceful and riveting” - Charlie Gillett, BBC London

TORONTO – WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 1ST, 2008 – The Small World Music Festival presents a veritable feast for the ears, eyes, heart and soul with the dynamic Chinese music virtuoso, LIU FANG in concert November 13. For more information, please visit smallworldmusic.com.

Liu Fang is one of the most renowned pipa players outside of China and is a foremost representative of the young generation of pipa soloists. It is a rare and exceptional thing to see and hear an artist become so absorbed in their instrument the way that Liu Fang is when playing the pipa (a Chinese pear-shaped lute ) and the guzheng (a type of zither). Her delicate yet riveting and emotional virtuosity captivates audiences wherever she goes. "Yes, there was just one musician, but ten talented fingers!" said Sir Ian McKellen at the BBC concert in 2003. Liu's total devotion, elegance and incredible agility and technique are married in performance creating the most spellbinding experiences. Wholenote Magazine describes it as "... a veritable feast of alluring sounds, ranging from the eloquent and lyrical to the flamboyant and percussive. The varied soundscape produced by one player and one instrument is quite dazzling. LiuFang’s masterly technique (e.g. tremolo, delicate harmonics, lyrical tunes, and boisterous percussive effects), as well as the music itself - which is based on short sections characterized by ever-changing tempos and dynamics - all evoke an improvised and exciting quality. ... “

Chinese Classical music often has thematic, poetic or philosophical classifications and is typically played solo, such as on the guqin, a 7-string zither, with over 3000 years of history, or the pipa, a lute with over 2000 years of history. The instruments demand not only a mastery of technique but a high degree of sensitivity to evoke the subtle sonorities and deep emotional expressions that rely on the left hand techniques (through, for instance, sliding, bending, pushing or crossing of the strings to produce typical singing effects and an extreme dynamical ranges), and where synchronized ensemble playing is virtually impossible. Celebrated as being "the empress of pipa” (L'Actualité, 2001) and “divine mediator" (the French World magazine, 2006), Liu Fang transmits in an expressive and graceful way the beauty of the ancient music, while drawing out the subtle sonorities of the pipa and the guzheng. Through the power and sensitivity of her play, she has given a renewed interpretation of the ancient repertory, of the poetic as well as the martial styles. The growing admiration from listeners, experts and novices alike attest to the respect paid to this highly talented musician.

Liu Fang was born in Kunming, in the province of Yunnan. She began studying the pipa at the early age of six and gave her first public performance as a pipa soloist when she was nine. Honoured with several provincial and national prizes, Liu Fang graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she also studied the guzheng, a Chinese zither. Since moving to Canada in 1996, Liu Fang has built a remarkable artistic profile by captivating audiences and critics with the richness and grace of her playing as well as her wide ranging repertoire, having given concerts all over the world and performing solo recitals at prestigious venues and festivals such as the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris, the Philharmonic Hall of Liège, Belgium (2006), BBC concerts in London (2003, 2007), the Bath International Music Festival (2004) and the York Early Music Center (2008) and the WOMAD Festival in the UK.

Liu Fang has made frequent television and radio appearances, premiered new compositions and performed with renowned orchestras, string quartets and collaborated master musicians from various traditions. In June 2001, Liu Fang received the prestigious New Millenium Prize awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts to an interpreter representing the future generation of the musical art, and in 2006, she received the prestigious French Académie Charles-Cros Award (equivalent to the Grammy or Juno) for the album, Le son de soie (Accords Croisées). She has in her discography 9 solo and collaboration recordings since her arrival in Canada in 1996, including one guzheng solo album and a series of three volumes of pipa solo - Soul of Pipa (1) (2001), representing the most ancient classical repertoire for which composers remains anonymous, Soul of Pipa (2), (2003) reflecting the evolution of classical repertoire from the ancient traditions to the recent compositions and the Soul of Pipa Vol. 3 which highlights the masterful impulses of Liu Fang on the pipa and delivers folk roots selections from various regions of China.

WHO: LIU FANG
WHAT: A Small World Music Presentation (smallworldmusic.com)
WHERE: Enwave Theatre, 231 Queens Quay West
WHEN: Thursday, November 13 @ 8:00 pm
TICKETS: $30 advance @ 416 973-4000 / harbourfrontcentre.com
WEBSITES: liufangmusic.net / philmultic.com
YOU TUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bof1GlvAo0

Liu Fang photos available for downloading: http://www.liufangmusic.net/English/presskits.html#photos