Friday, June 21 and Saturday, June 22, 2013
is an internationally recognized professional erhu player. He has recorded film music for a
number of movies and short films, including The Blood Brothers and the award-winning
short film Daughters (Best Original Score at NYU Tisch Film Festival). Wei-Yang Andy Lin
currently serves as a faculty member at the Chinese Cultural Arts Institute of Harrisburg,
and is Artistic Director of the New Asia Chamber Music Society and the New York Formosa
Choir.
Yang Wei
’
s musical education began at age six, and at
thirteen, he decided to concentrate upon mastering the pipa.
The years of study and dedication began to pay off when at
eighteen he performed as a soloist with the National Shanghai
Orchestra. He has since performed throughout Asia, Europe
and the United States with orchestras and in various ensembles,
as well as teaching and participating in educational programs
in both public and educational settings. Since 2000, Yang Wei
has toured with the acclaimed Silk Road Project, performing
alongside cellist Yo-Yo Ma. In 1996, Yang Wei moved permanently to the United States,
making his home in the Chicago area. He has been instrumental in commissioning new
works by such well-known composers as Bright Sheng, Zhu Jianer, Gabriela Lena Frank
and Yao Chen. He has engaged in various collaborations with other artists, blending
the sound of his pipa with Western instruments and themes, including in his own
ensemble, Qi Lin. In 2007, Yang Wei sponsored a major collaborative performance
with his mentor, Master Liu Dehai, at the Art Institute of Chicago, where he has served
as Artist-in-Residence. He has appeared on the David Letterman Show and Good
Morning America with the Silk Road Project.
YANG YI
is a leading virtuoso on the Chinese classical 21-string
zither known as the zheng. A winner of the International Chinese
Instruments Competition, among other awards, Yang Yi is also
a distinguished zheng educator and lecturer, and has served on
the faculty of the prestigious China Conservatory of Music, her
alma mater. Since moving to the United States in 1991, Yang
Yi has served as Music Director at American Alliance for World
Music and Arts in New Jersey, Music Director and teacher at
the Princeton University Chinese Music Ensemble, founder and
Artistic Director of the Princeton International Chinese Music Festival, and founder and
chairwoman of the Chinese instrument competition programs of the New Jersey Music
Teacher Association (the first competition of its kind in America). As a soloist, Yang Yi
has performed with most of China’s leading ensembles, and with such leading Western
music groups such as the California-based Kronos Quartet and Del Sol Quartet. She
has premiered new works by several of today’s renowned composers, including Lutz-
Werner Hesse (Germany), Lee Tzyy-sheng (Taiwan), Chen Yi and TanDun (both Chinese-
American and both Grammy Award winners) and Zhou QinRu (China).
2013
Program Notes, Book 1 A25
