The UK Chinese Ensemble

The UK and Europe’s leading Chinese music agency

Formally established in 1996, the UK Chinese Ensemble (UKCE) is a dedicated professional Chinese music organisation comprising renowned Chinese virtuosi resident mainly in Britain. Its founding members include world-class guqin master professor Li Xiangting, Daoist and erhu music expert Chen Dacan and pipa/guqin virtuoso and ethnomusicologist Dr Cheng Yu.

Since its inception, the ensemble and its musicians have performed many hundreds of concerts, festivals and workshops throughout the UK and in Europe. The group has appeared at such major venues as the London Southbank Centre’s Purcell Room and Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Royal Opera House and at the Brighton, Edinburgh and Pontardawe (Wales) Festivals. In Europe and beyond, the musicians have performed at the festivals of WOMEX (Spain), WOMAD (Canada, Sweden and Finland), Spoleto (Italy), Masala (Germany) and Babel Med Music (France). Apart from many published CD albums (see CD Recordings), the musicians are in demand for film and TV music recordings such as Disney’s film Mulan and Shanghai Noon and the BBC’s Wild China documentary. The UKCE has initiated and supported its award-winning group the Silk String Quartet and the popular Silk and Bamboo Ensemble as well as a Chinese-Western mixed ensemble, the Yin-Yang Collective.

Aims

The aim of the organisation is to foster and support a sustainable Chinese musicians’ collective to promote the practice, understanding and development of Chinese music in multi-cultural Britain and beyond.

Main objectives

• To present and develop a wide variety of traditional repertoires
• To perform contemporary, new and specially commissioned music
• To engage in educational and school music projects
• To collaborate for the production of  cross-cultural and cross-genre music works
• To encourage creative and experimental music adventures
• To perform recording and multi-media sound projects 
  

What does UKCE specialise in?

We specialises in providing you with high quality musicians and a variety of forms and styles of music from solo recitals to an orchestra of up to 20-musicians including:

• Solo recitals (pipa, guqin, erhu, guzheng, zhongruan, liuqin, yangqin and wind instruments)
• Duet and trio performances (e.g. string duet, silk and bamboo trio)
• The Silk String Quartet (winner of PRS Foundation Performance Groups 2007)
  
• The Silk String Quintet (liuqin/ruan, pipa, erhu, yangqin and guzheng)
  
• The Silk & Bamboo Ensemble (string and wind)
• The Chuida Band (a wind and percussion group, 4-8 musicians)
• The Yin-Yang Collective (Chinese-Western mixed ensemble)
• The London Youlan Qin Society (for guqin zither lovers)
• The UK Chinese Ensemble (a 16-20 piece orchestra)

What does UKCE offer?

• Concerts and tours
• Workshops/courses for schools (singing/percussion/instruments/music making)
• Festivals and cultural events
• China themed events – e.g. China Week and China Day
• Music recordings for CD, Radio, TV, Film and other multimedia projects.
• Music for co-operations and functions
• Musical instrument hire
• Music tuition on individual instruments and for ensemble classes

Reviews

"...an excellent group of Chinese virtuosi..." The Wire, Adventures in Modern Music.

"These are musicians to cherish, and to hear more often on the concert stage..." Journal of the European Foundation for Chinese Music Research (Chime).

"a virtuoso ensemble with such an exotic style... brilliant and impressive" - The Scotsman.

Main members of the ensemble

• 

  Cheng Yu - pipa (4-stringed lute) and qin (7-stringed zither)
• Chen Dacan - erhu, gaohu, jinghu (fiddles)
• Hu Bin - erhu
  
• Hu Ruijun - dizi and xiao (bamboo flutes)
• Kim-Ho Ip - yangqin (hammered dulcimer)
• Li Ming - yangqin (hammered dulcimer)
• Liu Qing - erhu
  
• Liu Xiaohu - sheng (mouth organ) and guanzi (double reed pipe), xun (ocarina)
• Qiu Zenghui - jinghu (Beijing opera fiddle) and yueqin (4-stringed lute)
• Sun Zhuo - guzheng (21-stringed zither)
• Xiao Ying - guzheng
  
• Zhou Jinyan - yangqin
• Zhao Zhangren - yangqin
  
• Zhu Xiaomeng - guzheng

Profile highlights

• 

  Performances and concerts at the British Museum, The First Emperor: China’s Terracotta Army exhibition – September 2007 – April 2008
• Recording for 6 series TV documentary music Wild China, BBC Bristol, October 2007
• Performance in London’s City Hall, Launch of China in London Season, February 2006
• Performances and concerts at Royal Academy of Arts exhibition: China’s Three Emperors: November 2005 – April 2006
• The National Centre of Early Music Centre, York February 2005 and 2006
• Film recording, Shanghai Noon, Shanghai Knights, Around the World in 80 Days 2003–2006
• Performances and workshops at the Royal Museum of Scotland during exhibition: Qing Emperor Qianlong, September 2003
• Purcell Room, Southbank Centre, London, 2003, 2001 and 1998
• UK, Europe and Middle East tour with Theatre Show – Shaolin: Wheel of Life 2000–2001
• Hong Kong Festival, Hyde Park, London, July 2005 and 2001
• Channel 4 TV music programme Howard Goodall’s Big Bang, August 2000
• Cambridge Folk Music Festival, July 2003
• A CD publication – "Liushui" (Flowing Water) SOASIS, 2000
• Edinburgh Festival, 1999 and 2001
• London Arena – Hong Kong Festival, July 1997

Copyright The UK Chinese Ensemble, 1998–2008. All rights reserved.