In anticipation of Lunar New Year coming up on Friday, this week’s Musician of the Week is our local BC Chinese Music Association! When I was studying at UBC, I learned how to play this ancient Chinese instrument called zheng in an orchestra led by professor Alan Thrasher:

 

Traditional Chinese instruments in the BC Chinese Orchestra include:
Erhu & Huqin (similar to western stringed instruments like violin, viola)
Pipa and Ruan (similar to a guitar)
Yangqin (similar to a piano)
Zheng (also called guzheng, like a sideways harp)
Dizi & Flutes (similar to western flutes)
Sheng (similar to a harmonica)
Suona & Guan (similar to an oboe)
Percussion instruments
Western instruments: cello, double bass, percussion

For those of you taking private lessons outside of school and have learned to play a major scale: Chinese (and many Asian) music use the pentatonic scale (leaves out the 4th and 7th notes of the major scale).

This week, we’ll listen to some of the pieces listed below:
– The Battle of Typhoon (featuring my friend, Michelle Kwan, on zheng, performing at Michael J. Fox Theatre in Burnaby)
– Ambush on all Sides (pipa solo)
– Princess Wencheng (featuring the sheng)
– The Legend of White Snake (featuring the dizi)
– Tiger Grinding Teeth (featuring percussion instruments)
– The Butterfly Lovers (featuring erhu, originally written for a western orchestra as a violin concerto; based on a legend similar to Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, called The Butterfly Lovers)
– Yellow River Concerto (featuring the western piano, originally written to a western orchestra)
– Rising Higher (a lucky message for the New Year)
– Spring Arrives at the Qing River (yangqin solo)
– Picking Red Dates (Suona trio, a lucky food for New Year)
– Super Mario Brothers Theme (a fun piece arranged for Chinese Orchestra)