Liu Fang plays guzheng

As a child prodigy in her native China, now a resident of Canada, Liu Fang has been regarded as one of the most eminent pipa soloists. She is also excellent performer on the Chinese zither Guzheng. Her fans are young and old, of all nationalities and backgrounds. Her talent crosses all boundaries, linguistic and cultural. She has performed numerous concerts throughout world to massive acclaim, including solo recitals of Chinese traditional and classical music as well as contemporary music with orchestras, string quartets and ensembles. She has also premiered a number of new compositions such as the works of Canada’s eminent composers R Murray Schafer and Jose Evangelista, and made frequent appearances in national and international TV and radios. Liu Fang is also highly acclaimed for her “Silk and Steel projects” in which she has collaborated with world class musicians from various traditions, and has released 9 solo and collaborative albums. Her most recent recording 'Silk Sound', under the French Label Accords Crosses, won the prestigious Academie Charles Cros Award (the French equivalent of the Grammy). Liu Fang is referred to in the press as "the empress of pipa” (L'actualité, 2001), “divine mediator” (World, 2006), “the greatest ambassadress of the art of the pipa” (La presse, 2002) and “possessing virtuoso technique, grace and a unique empathy toward the music she plays – whether it is a traditional folk tune or a modern Western composition” (All Music Guide, 2004). In 2001, Liu Fang was the only musician to receive the prestigious 'Future Generation Millennium Prize' awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts to three artists of different disciplines under 30 years of age.

"... From the outset, whether you are a connoisseur or not, listening to Fang Liu, any reservation or prejudice is forgotten, because it is the music that speaks. .. " - Lucie Rault, Journal du Théâtre de la Ville, Paris, Avril-Juin 2006 : 38.

"Yes, there was just one musician, but ten talented fingers!". - Sir Ian McKellen at the BBC concert, November 7, 2003.

Resumé

Resides in Montreal (Quebec) Canada since 1996.

• Born: 1974, Kunming (Yunnan), China.
• Education:
  1988-90: Kunming School for the Arts
  1990-1993: Shanghai Conservatory for Music
  2001: Studied "music improvisation" with Prof. Tran Van Khe in Paris in Paris, supported by Canada Council for the Arts.
• Performance highlights:
  Debut concert in Kunming in 1983.
  Performed for the Queen of England in 1985.
  Toured Japan in 1986.
  Since 1998 Liu Fang has given numerous concerts all over the world (see the highlights below).
• Awards:
  1983-89: A number of prizes in various Provincial competitions held in Yunnan, China.
  1988 - First prize for pipa at the national competition held in Chengdu (Sichuan), China.
  2001 - Future Generation Millennium Prize awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts.
  2006 - L'Académie Charles Cros Award (France).

Concerts (Highlights)
The most prominent presentation for solo recitals in the past years

• May 23, 2009: solo concert at Le festival Mawazine Rythmes du Monde (Maroc Cultures présente), Espace Chellah, Rabat, Maroc.
• April 25, 2009: solo concert at the Telus Theatre at at the Chan Centre, UBC campus, Vancouver, BC Canada.
• December 18, 2008: Solo concert in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, presented by Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (www.cultural.org.ae)
• November 20, 2008: Solo concert at the Thalia (Symphony Space), NYC, New York, presented by the World Music Institute.
• October 20, 2008: solo concert at the WOMEX (World Music Expo) in Seville, Spain.
• October 3, 2008: solo concert at Museo do Oriente, Av. Brasília, Doca de Alcântara (Norte), Lisbon, Portugal.
• May 2, 2008: solo concert at the Bray Jazz Festival, Ireland.
• April 26, 2008, 21:00h: solo recital, Centro Cultural La Cam, Alicante, Spain.
• April 5, 2008: solo recital, Salle Pierre-Mercure(Centre Pierre Peladeau, Montreal, QC, Canada).
• February 22, 2008, 7.30pm: solo recital, National Centre for Early Music, York, UK.
• October 13, 2007: solo recital at the Quai Branly Museum, Paris, France.
• September 18, 2007: Solo recital: The International Music Festival (SettembreMusica Torino Milano), Teatro Baretti, Turin, Italy.
• September 17, 2007: Solo recital at the First Edition of MITO SettembreMusica (The International Music Festival Milan-Turin), Sagrestia del Bramante, Milano, Italy.
• July 15, 2006: Festival des musiques du monde les suds à Arles, France.
• 7-9 July, 2006: Rudolstadt festival, Germany (July 8, 8pm: solo concert at the City Theater, live broadcasting by West Germany Radio (WDR), July 9, 3:30pm: Solo concert at the City Church, recorded by Bavarian Radio and TV.
• May 10, 2006: Solo concert at WOMAD Festival in Caceres, Spain.
• May 8, 2006: Liu Fang solo recital at the Theatre de la Vill in Paris, France.
  May 22, 2005: pipa solo concert at the Bath International Music Festival, UK.
• September 17, 2004: Solo concert at the Festival Notes d'Equinoxe Delémont, Switzerland (recorded live by Radio-Suisse)
• July 23, 2004, solo concert at the 2004 WOMAD festival in Reading, Berkshire, UK (press reviews).
• November 7, 2003: Liu Fang performed two solo pieces at the BBC World Service concert dedicated to the World AIDS Day, Concert, Mermaid theatre, London, UK.(BBC World Service recording and broadcasted in 43 languages all over the world. The host of the concert, Sir Ian McKellen said to the audiance and to the listeners of the radio after Liu Fang's performance: "There was just one musician, but ten talented fingers." see press reviews)

For a more complete list of concerts, including collaborations and pipa concertos, see past & upcoming concerts.
For Radio and TV appearances, click here.
 

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Selected Music video demo

Traditional solo pipa music

1.The King Chu doffs his armour (youtube here), martial style.
2. Wild geese descending on the sandy beach (lyrical style)
3. Songs from the Other Side of the Border (lyric style)
4.Autumn moon in the Palace of Han (lyrical style)
5.Falling snow decorate the evergreen (lyrical style)
6.The ambush from ten sides (martial style)

Contemporary pipa music

Liu Tianhua (1895­1932): On the theme of an air to dance
Wang Huiran (1936- ): Dance of Yi People
Wu Junsheng ( ): The night of the Bonfire Fest
Zeng Qingrong( ): Red river
Wang Fandi (1933-): Spring on the Tianshan Mountain

Chinese traditional guzheng music

1.Guangling San (youtube here), classical tradition.
2. Autumn moon in the Palace of Han (Traditional)
3. Chanting of Tiema (Zhao Dengshan, 1980)
4.Seagulls playing in water (traditional)
5.Three variations of plum blossom (extract, classical tradition)

Collaborations

Duo

1. Traditional Chinese music

1. The Song of Fishermen on Homebound Boat (traditional), guzheng & Dan bau
2. Three variation of plum blossom (traditional classic), guzheng & shakuhachi
3. Songs from the other side of the border (traditional classic), pipa & guitar

2. Traditional Japanese music

The Sea in Spring
Kibitaki Forest

pipa & guitare