Entertaining folk music

The Chinese National Orchestra will join eight traditional musical-instrument performers to present a concert of folk music at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Zhongshan Park on the eve of the Lantern Festival.

Titled Flower Blossoms and a Full Moon, the concert will feature such melodies as Phoenix Winging, Ambush From All Sides, Love Song at Torch Festival, Camel's Bell along Silk Road and Fish boat at Dusk.

The concert will be led by pipa performer Wu Yuxia. Wu was born in 1959 in Shanghai and learnt to play the pipa in her childhood. Trained at the Central Conservatory of Music, she has developed her own unique style.

With fingers dancing on the strings, her performances are full of passion and exquisite melody. At her most recent concert, Wu played her own composition Rhythm, based on the alternating four seasons.

The highlight of Suona horn artist Shan Wentong's performance is his inclusion of vocal mimicry, while that of young erhu player Li Yuanyuan is his innovative style. Guzheng performer Li Ying is known for his delicate maneuvering of the strings. The other performers are Zhang Xinhua, Li Fuhua, Zhu Jiaming and Wei Yuru, who play the liuqin, jinghu, sheng and zhongruan.

7:30 pm, Feb 8

Forbidden City Concert Hall in Zhongshan Park, Northwest of Tian'anmen Square, 6559-8285 中山音乐堂,中山公园内

Wu Liping

(China Daily 02/07/2009 page7)