The Linfield College Department of Music will present Red Chamber on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7:30 p.m. in Ice Auditorium in Melrose Hall at Linfield.
Red Chamber is a Chinese string group that takes its inspiration from the traditional Chinese “plucked string” repertoire. Red Chamber creates a unique sound while performing a repertoire that spans centuries, including transcriptions from the Tang Dynasty (618-907) to modern compositions. The group also explores other genres of plucked string music like Bluegrass, jazz and a host of other folk traditions.
Red Chamber is directed by Mei Han, who is recognized internationally as one of the leading virtuosi and authorities on the Chinese zheng (zither). Han has performed and lectured on Chinese music worldwide, recorded two Juno nominated CDs, and created a large repertoire of new music, contemporary chamber music, free improv and world music for the zheng.
Other members of Red Chamber include Guilian Liu, one of the world’s premiere pipa (lute) players, who graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and was the winner of the Chinese National Instrumental Music Competition in 1989. She was featured in the Oscar winning documentary “From Mao to Mozart – Isaac Stern in China” (1979). Zhimin Yu is a versatile ruan (lute) virtuoso, who immigrated to Canada in 1989, and has since become one of the most sought after Chinese musicians in Vancouver. Yu is also a gifted composer, actively writing for a wide variety of Chinese and Western ensembles. Geling Jiang is an award-winning multi-instrumentalist, who started her professional training at age 10 and later graduated from the Wu Han Conservatory of Music. Trained initially as a sanxian (three-string fretless lute) player, and she also regularly plays the zheng, pipa and ruan.
The concert is sponsored by the Linfield Department of Music and the Linfield Lively Arts Series, which features guest artists in concerts and in outreach activities, including master classes, open rehearsals and “Meet the Musicians” events with students and local audiences.
Admission is $10 at the door; Linfield students are free with current ID. For more information, call 503-883-2275 or visit linfield.edu/arts.
