Liu Fang

Liu Fang is among the most renowned pipa players beyond China (the pipa is a normal Chinese lute). Surviving in Montreal since 1996, she’s performed concerts in the us, Europe, and china and taiwan. She possesses virtuoso technique, elegance, and a distinctive empathy toward the music she takes on — whether it’s a normal folk tune or today’s Western structure. Fang has documented and/or performed the Chinese language traditional pipa repertoire, contemporary compositions by Chinese language composers (Tan Dun, Zhou Long), and premiered fresh functions for the pipa by R. Murray Schafer and Melissa Hui. Created in 1974 to a family group of performers, Fang was a kid prodigy. Her mom, an actress, got her to rehearsals, with age six, she started to find out the pipa, an especially big and challenging instrument. She offered her 1st public efficiency at nine and began to earn provincial contests. In 1985, at age group 11, she performed for the Queen of Britain and 3 years later on won first reward at the Country wide Competition for Adolescent Musicians. At age group 15 she was approved in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music where she researched pipa and guzheng (a Chinese language zither) for 3 years. Upon graduation she returned to her hometown of Kunming to execute with the neighborhood music and dance troupe. Despite support in the Chinese federal government, traditional music is normally often viewed as even more of the required furniture instead of an art, and Fang was starting to experience she could contact foreign listeners on the deeper level than her compatriots. After a vacation to Germany in 1995 where she performed using the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, she emigrated to Canada with her hubby and resolved in Montreal. She instantly made connections in the city’s Chinese language district and begun to perform. Erhu participant Lei Qiang led her to Paul Etch, owner from the record label Oliver Sudden Productions. He released her initial CD, Chinese language Traditional Pipa Music, in 1997. 2 yrs afterwards, Fang’s hubby quit his job being a meteorologist to control her growing profession. Since her entrance in Canada, the pipa participant has received solid support from the city. The nationwide radio has documented a lot of her concerts. In 2001 she was honored the Future Years Millennium Award, a one-time award given by the federal government to three performers in various disciplines (music, books, and visible arts). In Feb 2000 she toured with Kohei Nishikawa’s ensemble. In Sept 2001 she premiered R. Murray Schafer’s “The Palace from the Cinnabar Phoenix.” She’s also performed using the Nouvel Outfit Modern as well as the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec.