Music of China for Pipa & Guzheng
Liu Fang
Thursday, November 20, 2008 7:30 PM
Leonard Nimoy
Thalia at Symphony Space
Broadway at 95th St.
New York
Liu Fang has been acclaimed as a virtuoso of Chinese music on pipa
(lute) and guzheng (zither), having developed an impressive international
career and received many honors including the prestigious New Millennium
Prize and L'Académie Charles Cros Award (French equivalent of the
Grammy). Her repertoire features music from the classical tradition, as
well as contemporary works, and includes rarely heard pieces.
"An extraordinary focused, poised presence in her manner and her playing. In a lesser player this is just a trained formality. But Liu Fang has moved beyond perfect execution to the creativity that marks a true musician." - fROOTS Magazine, 2006.
"Liu Fang possesses virtuoso technique, grace and a unique empathy toward the music she plays, be it a traditional folk tune or a modern composition." - All Music Guide.
If an easy ability to transcend geographic, stylistic and linguistic barriers is a hallmark of great artists, then Liu Fang, one of the finest Chinese traditional musicians performing today, is among their number. It helps that she is a musician who marries a stunning technique with a quiet aesthetic, moving without impediment between dizzy complexity and simple serenity on her chosen instruments, the pipa and guzheng.
Born in Yunnan Province, Liu Fang has been a devotee of Chinese traditional music since the tender age of six, a precursor to studies at the Shanghai Conservatory and mastery of several indigenous Chinese instruments. Fang is without peers in her command of the pipa, the teardrop shaped lute that came to China via The Silk Road in the 6th century. With its deeply scolloped thirty frets, played in the five fingered plucking style known as lunzi, this demanding instrument sings brightly in the hands of this modest virtuoso.
Based in Montreal since the mid 90's, Liu Fang has blossomed as an ambassador
for China's enigmatic trove of classical and folkloric music, when collaborating
with traditional musicians like kora master Ballake Sissoko or contemporary
music ensembles such as Canada's Nouvelle Ensemble Moderne or Italy's Paul
Klee Quartet, or violin maestro Malcolm Goldstein.
Her debut New York performance, will be solo and unadorned, all the better
to appreciate the ebb and flow of her deeply personal river of Taoist sound
from torrents of rapid notes cascading downstream to tranquil pools of reflection.
(text - courtesy of www.improvisedmusic.ie)
“masterful, graceful and riveting” BBC London
Tickets $28
WMI Friends $24
Students $18
presented by the World Music Institute
Ticket & information:
www.worldmusicinstitute.org
Tickets on-line: www.symphonyspace.org
further audio & video demo: www.myspace.com/liufang
YOUTUBE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bof1GlvAo0
Liu Fang photos available for downloading: http://www.liufangmusic.net/English/presskits.html#photos