Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra is a chamber orchestra composed of eleven classically trained musicians, who interpret elements of Chinese folk music. The intention of the group is to express the changes taking place in contemporary Chinese culture, through the sounds of ancient instruments. It has participated in important national and international music events held in Brisbane, Canberra, Wellington, Christchurch.
The Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra was jointly created by pipe player Yang Jing and ten musicians dedicated to traditional instruments. These are graduates of Beijing music schools such as Central Conservatory of Music and the China Music Conservatory. [1] Their repertoire includes folk love songs, songs of sorrow, songs that describe China's landscapes and recited passages. [2] Traditional instruments include the huqin and erhu which are similar to the viola and violin, the sanxian, percussion instruments, flutes and voices. [3]
It has participated in important national and international music events held in Brisbane, Canberra, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and Auckland under the auspices of the “Oriental Express”, a foreign exchange project of the Ministry of Culture. [1]
The repertoire is divided into two programs. One consists of chamber orchestra pieces, both traditional and newer, and the other is a collection of poetry and readings, punctuated with sounds of traditional instruments. [1]
The programs include each one nine pieces, most of them ancient melodies that also try to express the reflection of life. One of the pieces is "Jackdaws playing with the water", an ancient piece from Han Dynasty that evokes a scene of a group of birds that play with water during a cold day. It is a metaphor of the optimistic persons in spite of the life's problems. Another one is "A faint perfume" from the poet Jiang Kui, [4] And also,"The Moon" melody which is a classic of the folkloric cong of the twentieth century. This composition tries to take the audience into a calm and cold night. [5]
Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra is composed of eleven classically trained musicians, which interpret elements of Chinese folk music. [2]
Yang Jing is the director and founder of NPFCO, Yang is a professor and tutor of masters students at the China Music Conservatory, and one of the most famous pipa virtuosos in China. [1]
Liu Shun is the music director and conductor of the New Purple Forbidden City Orchestra, Liu is also professor and tutor of master students at the China Music Conservatory in Beijing. Liu studied at both the Central Conservatory of Music and the China Music Conservatory. He has conducted many different orchestras, including the Chinese Bow String Youth Orchestra, the Chinese Plucked Instruments Youth Orchestra, the China Music Conservatory Chinese Orchestra, the New Music Orchestra of the Central Conservatory of Music, the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Guangdong Traditional Music Ensemble and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. Liu has also recorded and produced albums and TV music programs. [1]
Shen Cheng Plays the huqin, Shen is professor and tutor of master's degree students at the China Music Conservatory. He also holds many other positions, including membership on the Folk Music Committee of the Chinese Musicians' Association, and vice-chairman of the huqin subcommittee within the China Nationalities Orchestra Society. [1]
Zhang Zunlian is a professor of master's degree students and deputy director of the Instrument Music Department at China Music Conservatory. He is also the vice-director of the huqin subcommittee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society. [1]
Zhao Chengwei Plays the sanxian (a three-string musical instrument), member of different Chinese musician associations and the China Nationalities Orchestra Society, and a member of the sanxian section of the Chinese National Occupation Skill Evaluation Committee, Zhao Chengwei currently serves as professor at the China Music Conservatory [1]
Wei Wei plays the Liuqin and Ruan, she's a professor at the China Music Conservatory, where she tutors master's degree students. Wei is also the director of the Ruan Specialty Committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society, and a board member of the Liuqin Specialty Committee. [1]
Jiao Shanlin is a percussionist and professor at the China Music Conservatory, his skills include proficiency on both Chinese and Western percussion instruments. [1]
Yang Lin plays the Zheng (zither), she is a lecturer at the China Music Conservatory, member of the Chinese Musicians Association, member of the Beijing Zheng Academy, and a board member of the Konghou Specialty Committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society. [1]
Luo Yuan was admitted to the China Conservatory in 1992, Luo Yuan is a lecturer at the China Conservatory of Music. She studied study under Prof. Zuhua Xiang, receiving her bachelor's degree in 1996, and worked as a cimbalom teacher at the Middle School attached to the China Conservatory from then onwards. She obtained her master's degree in 2002. [1]
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 to 26. Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin, which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. The pear-shaped instrument may have existed in China as early as the Han dynasty, and although historically the term pipa was once used to refer to a variety of plucked chordophones, its usage since the Song dynasty refers exclusively to the pear-shaped instrument.
The erhu, is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a Southern Fiddle, and sometimes known in the Western world as the Chinese violin or a Chinese two-stringed fiddle.
The dizi, is a Chinese transverse flute. It is also sometimes known as the di (笛) or héngdi (橫笛), and has varieties including the qǔdi (曲笛) and bāngdi (梆笛). It is a major Chinese musical instrument that is widely used in many genres of Chinese folk music, Chinese opera, as well as the modern Chinese orchestra. The dizi is also a popular instrument among the Chinese people as it is simple to make and easy to carry.
The liuqin is a four-stringed Chinese mandolin with a pear-shaped body. It is small in size, almost a miniature copy of another Chinese plucked musical instrument, the pipa. The range of its voice is much higher than the pipa, and it has its own special place in Chinese music, whether in orchestral music or in solo pieces. This has been the result of a modernization in its usage in recent years, leading to a gradual elevation in status of the liuqin from an accompaniment instrument in folk Chinese opera, to an instrument well-appreciated for its unique tonal and acoustic qualities. The position of the instrument is lower than the pipa, being held diagonally like the Chinese ruan and yueqin. Like the ruan and unlike the pipa its strings are elevated by a bridge and the soundboard has two prominent soundholes. Finally, the instrument is played with a pick with similar technique to both ruan and yueqin, whereas the pipa is played with the fingers. Therefore, the liuqin is most commonly played and doubled by those with ruan and yueqin experience.
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The gaohu is a Chinese bowed string instrument developed from the erhu in the 1920s by the musician and composer Lü Wencheng (1898–1981) and used in Cantonese music and Cantonese opera. It belongs to the huqin family of instruments, together with the zhonghu, erhu, banhu, jinghu, and sihu; its name means "high-pitched huqin". It is the leading instrument of Cantonese music and opera ensembles. Well known pieces for the gaohu include Bu Bu Gao and Ping Hu Qiu Yue.
The sanxian is a Chinese lute—a three-stringed fretless plucked musical instrument. It has a long fingerboard, and the body is traditionally made from snake skin stretched over a rounded rectangular resonator. It is made in several sizes for different purposes and in the late 20th century a four-stringed version was also developed. The northern sanxian is generally larger, at about 122 cm (48 in) in length, while southern versions of the instrument are usually about 95 cm (37 in) in length.
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