Press
Releases
Cheng
Yu, 5-String Pipa Premiere
(Please see the projects page for further information on the
5-string pipa project, and the news page
for full details of the concerts).
The pipa (Chinese lute) boasts a history of two thousand
years and is regarded as the quintessentially Chinese lute. Both the
4-and 5-stringed pipa originally came to China through the ‘silk
road’ and were the core literati and court instruments during the Tang
dynasty (AD 618-907). Whilst the 4-stringed pipa continues to
thrive in China today, the 5-stringed pipa was mysteriously lost
around the 8th century.
Cheng Yu – an internationally renowned pipa virtuoso,
ethnomusicologist and specialist on Chinese music. Born in Beijing, China,
she was soloist at the Central Orchestra of Chinese Music in Beijing before
coming to London in the 1990s. Cheng Yu holds BMus. (China), and PhD
(SOAS, London) in Chinese music. She plays, records and researches widely
on traditional and contemporary Chinese music as well as cross-cultural
music collaborations in the UK, Europe and elsewhere. She is the founder
of the UK Chinese Music Ensemble (1994 -) and currently teaches the pipa
and the guqin (7-stringed zither) and researches at SOAS, University
of London.
Cheng Yu’s long term ambition to bring back the life of the lost
5-stringed pipa for contemporary music contexts has been realised
through her creative project: “5-stringed pipa – Creation, Construction,
Composition and Performance”. This project has won her awards from
Women in Music, Arts and Humanities Research Board and Arts Council of England.
Having spent nearly two years researching and travelling to China and Korea,
She now proudly presents her newly constructed 5-stringed pipa and
premieres her concerts of cross-cultural music reaction in London in February.
She commissioned 4 composers and collaborates with musicians of diverse cross-cultural
backgrounds. Cheng Yu is the first person to have re-created the 5-stringed
pipa and innovatively developed it for 21st century use. The current
5-stringed pipa is not simply a duplicate of the old model – a “museum
piece”, but has been designed so as to explore and experiment with its tonal
and sound ranges, the expressive power and potential of the 5-stringed pipa
in the light of modern knowledge and technical developments.
Cheng Yu premieres the 5-string pipa
Wednesday 16 February, 7.30pm, Brunei Gallery Lecture Theatre, SOAS,
University of London, Thornhaugh St., Russell Square, London, WC1H (with
pre-concert talk 6-7pm)
Friday 25 February 2005, 12.30pm, The Concert Hall, Guildhall School
of Music & Drama, Silk St., Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT
Admission Free
Cheng Yu is available for interview. For further information
contact 0788 0896003 or chengyu66@hotmail.com. See also http://www.ukchinesemusic.com.
Newspaper articles
1. Camden New Journal, 10 February,
2005
2. Singtao Daily, 18 February, 2005
Copyright Cheng Yu, J. Joseph, 1998 - 2005. All rights reserved.