Liu Fang
Encyclopedia
Liu Fang (born 1974) is one of the most prominent pipa
players in the world. Born in Kunming
in the Chinese province of Yunnan
, she began playing the pipa at the age of 6. Her first solo public performance was at the age of 9. In 1986, at age 11, she played for Queen Elizabeth II
. Her studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music
broadened her musical range and allowed her to study the guzheng
.
At the age of 22, Liu Fang immigrated to Canada
and is now a Canadian citizen, currently residing in Montreal
. The decision to move to Quebec
allowed her virtuosic playing to reach a wider international audience. Since 1999, she has performed hundreds of solo concerts featuring Chinese traditional and classical music on her two solo instruments - pipa
and guzheng
. Her profile has risen due to her rich and deeply spiritual performances as well as a wide ranging repertoire that features music from Chinese classical and folk traditions (including pieces rarely heard) as well as contemporary works from both east and west. Described in the media as the "empress of pipa" (L'actualité
), "divine mediator" (World), "the greatest ambassadress of the art of the pipa" (La presse), Liu Fang is known as “possessing virtuoso technique, grace and a unique empathy toward the music she plays – whether it is a traditional and folk tune or a modern Western composition” (All Music Guide). "She has an extraordinary focused, poised presence in her manner and her playing. In a lesser player this is just a trained formality; the body of material and techniques for her instruments is extremely highly developed, passed down through centuries. But Liu Fang’s total devotion to her playing has moved her beyond perfect execution to the creativity and flexibility that marks a true musician."(in the fRoots Magazine, 06.2006).
Apart from her numerous solo concerts, Liu Fang has also many intercultural collaborations in terms of "Silk and Steel Projects", where "Silk" represents the traditional culture of China whereas "steel" is a metaphor for modernity and western culture. Her last album entitled "Silk Sound" (Le son de soie) featured musical dialogues with artists from three different continents and was awarded the grand prize of L'Académie Charles Cros
, the French equivalent of the US Recording Academy. Back in 2001, Liu Fang was the only musician to receive the prestigious "Future Generation Millennium Prize" awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts to three artists of different disciplines under 30 years of age. The words of the jury summed up her achievements rather succinctly: "Liu Fang's mastery of the pipa and the guzheng has established her international reputation as a highly talented young interpreter of traditional Chinese music. She aspires to combine her knowledge and practice of eastern traditions with western classical music, contemporary music and improvisation, thereby creating new musical forms, uniting different cultures and discovering new audiences."
Liu Fang has made a number of national and international radio and TV appearances, produced several CDs. Liu Fang was invited as one of the featured artists by BBC World Service for the concert on November 7, 2003 dedicated to World AIDS Day. She performed at the 60th anniversary of UNESCO
in Paris
on November 16, 2005, and has also been honored by the government of Canada. She has performed with orchestras, string quartets and various instruments the works of many contemporary composers, including R. Murray Schafer
, Tan Dun
, Philip Glass
, Janet Maguire
, Ian Wilson
, José Evangelista
, Zhou Long
, Melissa Hui
, Diego Luzuriaga, Chen Yi
, Toshiyuki Hiraoka, Yoshiharu Takahashi, David Loeb, Hugue Leclair, Simon Bertrand and Chantale Laplante, to mention a few, and has performed frequently with guitarist Michael O'Toole
and the violinist Malcolm Goldstein
.
'Collaborations :
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
players in the world. Born in Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
in the Chinese province of Yunnan
Yunnan
Yunnan is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the far southwest of the country spanning approximately and with a population of 45.7 million . The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders Burma, Laos, and Vietnam.Yunnan is situated in a mountainous area, with...
, she began playing the pipa at the age of 6. Her first solo public performance was at the age of 9. In 1986, at age 11, she played for Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
. Her studies at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music
Shanghai Conservatory of Music
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music , as the first music institution of higher education in China, was founded on November 27, 1927. The teachers and students have won numerous awards both home and abroad, thus earning the conservatory the name, “the cradle of musicians”.-History:The Shanghai...
broadened her musical range and allowed her to study the guzheng
Guzheng
The guzheng or "gu zheng", also called zheng is a Chinese plucked zither. It has 18-23 or more strings and movable bridges....
.
At the age of 22, Liu Fang immigrated to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and is now a Canadian citizen, currently residing in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. The decision to move to Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
allowed her virtuosic playing to reach a wider international audience. Since 1999, she has performed hundreds of solo concerts featuring Chinese traditional and classical music on her two solo instruments - pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
and guzheng
Guzheng
The guzheng or "gu zheng", also called zheng is a Chinese plucked zither. It has 18-23 or more strings and movable bridges....
. Her profile has risen due to her rich and deeply spiritual performances as well as a wide ranging repertoire that features music from Chinese classical and folk traditions (including pieces rarely heard) as well as contemporary works from both east and west. Described in the media as the "empress of pipa" (L'actualité
L'actualité
L'actualité is a Canadian French-language news and general interest magazine published in Montreal by Les Éditions Rogers, which is owned by Rogers Communications. The magazine has over a million readers, according to Canada's Print Measurement Bureau, from its circulation which is mainly...
), "divine mediator" (World), "the greatest ambassadress of the art of the pipa" (La presse), Liu Fang is known as “possessing virtuoso technique, grace and a unique empathy toward the music she plays – whether it is a traditional and folk tune or a modern Western composition” (All Music Guide). "She has an extraordinary focused, poised presence in her manner and her playing. In a lesser player this is just a trained formality; the body of material and techniques for her instruments is extremely highly developed, passed down through centuries. But Liu Fang’s total devotion to her playing has moved her beyond perfect execution to the creativity and flexibility that marks a true musician."(in the fRoots Magazine, 06.2006).
Apart from her numerous solo concerts, Liu Fang has also many intercultural collaborations in terms of "Silk and Steel Projects", where "Silk" represents the traditional culture of China whereas "steel" is a metaphor for modernity and western culture. Her last album entitled "Silk Sound" (Le son de soie) featured musical dialogues with artists from three different continents and was awarded the grand prize of L'Académie Charles Cros
L'Académie Charles Cros
The Académie Charles-Cros, is an organization in France that acts as an intermediary between government cultural policy makers and professionals in music and the recording industry....
, the French equivalent of the US Recording Academy. Back in 2001, Liu Fang was the only musician to receive the prestigious "Future Generation Millennium Prize" awarded by the Canada Council for the Arts to three artists of different disciplines under 30 years of age. The words of the jury summed up her achievements rather succinctly: "Liu Fang's mastery of the pipa and the guzheng has established her international reputation as a highly talented young interpreter of traditional Chinese music. She aspires to combine her knowledge and practice of eastern traditions with western classical music, contemporary music and improvisation, thereby creating new musical forms, uniting different cultures and discovering new audiences."
Liu Fang has made a number of national and international radio and TV appearances, produced several CDs. Liu Fang was invited as one of the featured artists by BBC World Service for the concert on November 7, 2003 dedicated to World AIDS Day. She performed at the 60th anniversary of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
on November 16, 2005, and has also been honored by the government of Canada. She has performed with orchestras, string quartets and various instruments the works of many contemporary composers, including R. Murray Schafer
R. Murray Schafer
Raymond Murray Schafer is a Canadian composer, writer, music educator and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book The Tuning of the World...
, Tan Dun
Tan Dun
Tan Dun is a Chinese contemporary classical composer, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero.-Early life in China:...
, Philip Glass
Philip Glass
Philip Glass is an American composer. He is considered to be one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century and is widely acknowledged as a composer who has brought art music to the public .His music is often described as minimalist, along with...
, Janet Maguire
Janet Maguire
Janet Maguire is an American composer residing in Venice, Italy. She is known particularly for her arrangement of the finale of Giacomo Puccini's Turandot in which she used exclusively the sketches Puccini left for it at his death...
, Ian Wilson
Ian Wilson (composer)
Ian Wilson is a prolific, award-winning Irish composer of classical music. He also served as the music director of the Sligo New Music Festival from 2003 to 2011....
, José Evangelista
José Evangelista
José Evangelista is a Spanish composer and music educator who is based in Montreal, Canada. A member of the Canadian League of Composers, the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores, and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre, Evangelista is known for his commitment to contemporary classical...
, Zhou Long
Zhou Long
Zhou Long is a Pulitzer-prize-winning Chinese American composer.-Biography:Born into an artistic family, Zhou Long began studying piano from an early age. Due to the artistic restrictions implemented during the Cultural Revolution, he was forced to delay his piano studies and live on a state-run...
, Melissa Hui
Melissa Hui
Melissa Hui is a composer. Raised in Vancouver, Canada, Hui studied at the University of British Columbia, the California Institute of the Arts and Yale University...
, Diego Luzuriaga, Chen Yi
Chen Yi (composer)
Chen Yi is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music. She was the first Chinese woman to receive a Master of Arts in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She is also a violinist....
, Toshiyuki Hiraoka, Yoshiharu Takahashi, David Loeb, Hugue Leclair, Simon Bertrand and Chantale Laplante, to mention a few, and has performed frequently with guitarist Michael O'Toole
Michael O'Toole
Michael O'Toole is an Irish guitarist.He studied for many years with John Feeley in the DIT Conservatory of Music and Drama and also spent two years studying with the renowned Cuban virtuoso Ricardo Iznaola in Denver, Colorado...
and the violinist Malcolm Goldstein
Malcolm Goldstein
Malcolm Goldstein is a composer, violinist and improviser who has been active in the presentation of new music and dance since the early 1960s. He received an M.A. in music composition from Columbia University in 1960, having studied with Otto Luening...
.
Discography
'Albums solo :- The soul of pipa, vol. 3 : Pipa Music from Chinese folk traditions, Philmultic, 2006
- Emerging Lotus : Chinese traditional guzheng music, Philmultic, 2005
- The soul of pipa, vol. 2 : Chinese classical Pipa Music: from the ancient to the recent, Philmultic, 2003
- The soul of pipa, vol. 1 : Chinese Pipa Music from the classical tradition, Philmultic, Canada, 2001
- Chinese Traditional Pipa Music : Oliver Sudden Productions Inc, Canada/USA, 1997
'Collaborations :
- Along the Way - Duo pipa & violin : Philmultic, 2010
- Changes - Duo pipa & Guitar : Philmultic, 2008
- Le son de soie : Accords-Croisés/Harmonia Mundi, Paris, 2006
- Mei Hua - Fleur de prunier : ATMA ClassiqueATMA ClassiqueATMA Classique is a Canadian record label based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1995, the company has over 300 titles in its catalogue and distributes in over 25 countries and on the internet. Several recordings released by the company have won Juno and Felix Awards....
, Canada, 2004 - Arabic and Chinese music : Liu Fang et Farhan Sabbagh, Philmultic, 2000
- Musique chinoise : Solo, duo, et avec orchestre de chambre, Philmultic, 1999