Renowned erhu player Changyao Zhu, known as the Itzhak Perlman of China; Emmy Award-winning Vietnamese đàn tranh and đàn bầu player Van-Ahn Vo; guzheng performer Zhongbei Wu, who has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center plus pipa player/composer Gao Hong and the world music ensemble Speaking in Tongues will offer a not-to-be-missed world music feast at Sundin Music Hall, Hamline University, on Friday, February 16, 2024, at 7:30 PM. A special highlight will be an appearance by an award-winning mysterious guest, completing this 4-continent 'Dream Team’ of world- class musicians from Asia, Africa, and North and South America. Don't miss out!
DATE: Friday, February 16, 2024
TIME: 7:30 PM
LOCATION:
Sundin Music Hall
Hamline University
1531 Hewitt Ave
St. Paul, MN 55104
General Admission: $25 at the door, $20 in advance (reserved or purchased) and $18 for Students, Seniors, and group of 10 or more
Order Tickets at Paypal @iftpa or Call at 952-210-3628 or Email: wmpros@yahoo.com
PERFORMERS:
Changyao Zhu - Award - winning Chinese Erhu master
Vân-Ánh Võ - Emmy - winning Vietnamese Dàn Tranh (zither) master
and composer
Zhongbei (Daisy) Wu - Award-winning Chinese Guzheng master
Speaking in Tongues (Sowah Mensah - African Percussion, Gao Hong - Chinese Pipa, Enrique Toussaint - Bass, Marc Anderson - World Percussion)
* Plus a Mystery Guest Artist!!!
Performers Bios:
- Changyao Zhu is a Erhu player with many titles: National Class-A Actor , Director of Song and Dance Theatre of Jiangsu Province, Member of Chinese Musicians Association, Director of China Nationalities Orchestra Society., Visiting Professor of Nanjing University and Southeast University. The representative works of Zhu are “Drums of Celebrations”, “Spring Scenery in South of Yangtze River”, “A Night Mooring by Maple Bridge “ “Attachment to Suzhou” and “Long lovesickness”. In Changyao Zhu’s memory, the most meaningful and unforgettable competition is the "Chinese Instruments Solo Contest" in 1982, which is the most ceremonious music contest since the foundation of the country. When he finished his playing of “Two Springs Reflect on Moon” and “Spring Scenery in South of Yangtze River”, the audiences kept silent for nearly one minute and then burst into applause. The audiences were so thrilled they kept handclap even after Zhu left the stage, which forced the director to get Zhu back to the stage answer the curtain call. Although Zhu won the champion of Erhu solo playing, he thinks the audiences’ recognition was what really made the competition special. Apart from playing Erhu, Zhu is also actively involved in the creation of music. He has always believed that a musician must set up his own style and works to stand his own ground. And that’s exactly he has always pursued. Changyao Zhu, with his profound understanding of music and his delicate and unique playing, is so highly praised by musicians that he has been called the "Chinese Perlman” Changyao Zhu had visited and gave performances in many countries as an Erhu solo player, and had won high praise from both domestic and abroad audiences. Zhu is deemed a world class string instrument player.
- A fearless musical explorer, Vân-Ánh Võ is an award-winning performer of the 16-string đàn tranh (zither) and an Emmy Award-winning composer who has collaborated with Kronos Quartet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Yo-Yo Ma. In addition to her mastery of the đàn tranh, she also uses the monochord (đàn bầu), bamboo xylophone (đàn t’rung), traditional drums (trống) and many other instruments to create music that blends the wonderfully unique sounds of Vietnamese instruments with other genres, and fuses deeply rooted Vietnamese musical traditions with fresh new structures and compositions. Coming from a family of musicians and beginning to study đàn tranh (16- string zither) from the age of four, Van-Anh graduated with distinction from the Vietnamese Academy of Music, where she later taught. In 1995, Vân- Ánh won the championship title in the Vietnam National Đàn Tranh Competition, along with the first prize for best solo performance of modern folk music. In Hanoi, Vân-Ánh was an ensemble member of Vietnam National Music Theatre as well as a member of the traditional music group Đồng Nội Ensemble, which she founded and directed. She has since performed in more than fourteen countries and recorded many broadcast programs in and outside of Vietnam.
- Professor Zhongbei (Daisy) Wu is a renowned musician of playing Guzheng (a traditional Chinese instrument), and has performed in various countries and remarkable venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, United Nations Headquarters, China National Television, and many more. She is also a groundbreaking creator with her own contemporary compositions. Currently, she is a clinical professor of music at Alfred University, where she has been teaching Chinese music and the Guzheng courses since 2010, and is also director of its Chinese language and culture program. Prior to coming to the US, she was an associate professor of music and the director of the Chinese orchestra in Hunan University of Technology and Business, China.
- Speaking in Tongues is four astonishing musicians from four different cultures with four native tongues. Their performances worldwide are as diverse as the group itself, They opened a new Chinese music series at the prestigious Muziekgebouw aan het IJ in Amsterdam, performed at a Nobel Peace Prize Conference in America’s heartland, and have performed for enthusiastic audiences on university campuses and in concert halls throughout the U.S. Collaborations have included those with the Indian dance troupe Ragamala (in performances at Ted Mann Concert Hall and the Southern Theatre in Minneapolis); a performance with the St. Paul Civic Orchestra at Landmark Center in St. Paul; and a performance with the traditional Chinese percussion quartet Ba Da Chui and guqin (ancient Chinese zither) master Zhao Jiazhen at The O’Shaughnessy in St. Paul. They have toured China and performed at Walker Art Center and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, and a recoding they made of Gao Hong’s Quiet Forest, Flowing Stream toured the U.S. with the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Wild Sound exhibit.
- With superb musicianship and an infectious camaraderie, Speaking in Tongues creates an environment that is engaging and exhilarating. The collective sound of the group draws on so many sources that listeners from all walks of life can connect easily. Four outstanding musicians blend music from four different cultures on a stage full of instruments from all over the world. The result - a concert experience that is spellbinding, entertaining, and unprecedented.
- Speaking in Tongues is master drummer, multi- instrumentalist and composer Sowah Mensah from Ghana, Enrique Toussaint, the virtuoso bassist from Mexico City, Twin Cities master percussionist Marc Anderson, and Gao Hong, one of the world's foremost performers on the Chinese four-stringed lute, the pipa.
- When considering the individual voices, one is struck by the truly distinctive quality of this music and the level of skill and musical maturity required to shape it into the spirited and the coherent musical expression that it is. Their music has been described as a West African drum ensemble driving along under the butterfly wings of an Asian melody, the romance of Brazilian jazz orchestrated with Middle Eastern drums, and folk music from a new world. Rich compositions set up by free roaming improvisations lead the listener through open landscapes of gentle rustlings and sparse instrumentation and then, with a subtle turn, plunge them into thick forests populated by percussion and bass.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
Cosponsored by Alliance of Minnesota Chinese Organizations, Legacy Adult Daycare, Marathon Ginseng Gardens, Minnesota Center for Community Services, University of Minnesota China Center.
