Jade Zheng Troupe gives a concert at the NCPA in Beijing on Jan 5. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The Jade Zheng Troupe, a chamber music ensemble consisting of 30 students and teachers from the Zhejiang Conservatory of Music, performed a concert at the National Centre for the Performing Arts in Beijing on Jan 5.
Playing 10 original and classical pieces, the troupe demonstrated the versatility of the guzheng, a traditional Chinese plucked-string instrument.
Ode to Aloft Clouds, a piece composed by Zhou Zhan, the troupe's artistic director, was written to commemorate his father, Zhou Yanjia, a leading guzheng player.
Jade Zheng Troupe gives a concert at the NCPA in Beijing on Jan 5. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
Green: Song of Wind, composed by Zhang Zhao and arranged by Zhou Zhan and Sheng Yang, had guzheng performers using the bow used to play a cello to imitate the sound of khoomei, a traditional Mongolian form of singing, as well as the morin khuur or horse-headed fiddle, a traditional Mongolian stringed instrument.
Other highlights included Pattern of the Strings by Li Jun, a composition inspired by porcelain, and Unconstraint and Chinese Chess by Chen Zhe, which was inspired by the I Ching, or the Book of Changes.
Jade Zheng Troupe gives a concert at the NCPA in Beijing on Jan 5. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]
The concert ended with a performance of Emerald, a composition by Wang Danhong, which features ethnic folk music elements from southwestern China. The troupe premiered the piece in 2023 and it is a showcase for guzheng soloists, duets and ensembles.
