An
Introduction
Melody of China, a non-profit organization, is
the premiere Chinese music ensemble based in the San Francisco Bay Area.
The organization
was formed in 1993 by a group of enthusiastic professional musicians
from some of the most prestigious music conservatories in China. The
ensemble has a two-fold mission: to promote Chinese classical, folk and
contemporary music, and to provide quality entertainment through the
synergy between an ancient cultural tradition and youthful, multi-colored
American culture. Toward such an end, Melody of China has been busy with
regular concert performances as well as presenting a variety of educational
programs for local schools and community events. Multi-instrumentalist
Hong Wang and yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer) virtuoso Yangqin Zhao
co-lead the ensemble. Members of MOC include: Wanpen Guo on sheng (mouth
organ), Linhong Li on pipa (Chinese lute); Haiyue Zhang on ruan (moon
guitar) and liuqin (Chinese mandolin) Gangqin Zhao on guzheng (table
harp), Xian Lu on dizi (Chinese bamboo flutes) and other wind instruments,
Wei Wang on percussion and Zhang Yu on suona (double reeds). In addition,
the ensemble’s programs often include guest appearances by many
professional musicians visiting or residing in the San Francisco Bay
Area.
Since 1997, MOC has produced its own annual concerts in San Francisco.
Included among its past productions: "Thundering Drums", Two
Suites: "Shi Jing Suite" and "Silk
Road Suite" concerto
(composed by Yuanlin Chen) and premiered in San Francisco; "Double
Concerto for the Erhu & Yangqin" (composed by Gang Situ) with
the Women's Philharmonic; and "Thundering Across the Sky" (composed
by Yuanlin Chen) with newly commissioned works by composers Kui Dong,
Duo Huang, Bingyan Li and mainland China composer Mingguan Zhu. Recently,
MOC received grants from the James Irvine Foundation and Meet the Composer.
In 2006, MOC collaborated with the Del Sol String Quartet to perform
a series of four concerts, entitled "Four Seasons", in San
Francisco and other California cities. Two commissioning works were performed
as world premieres in the San Francisco Bay Area by prominent composer
Dr. Kui Dong and freelance composer Duo Huang.
Melody of China musicians have also performed internationally in many
festivals. They have had engagements with the Berlin Philharmonic as
well as the San Francisco Symphony and appeared in domestic and international
festivals. MOC also joined CityWinds' annual concert, where they performed
world premieres of new works by five composers.
MOC’s programs have been funded through grants by the California
Arts Council, Chamber Music America, Grants for the Arts/San Francisco
Hotel Tax Fund, San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Fund,
Meet the Composer Fund, Silkroad Foundation as well as support by other
private companies and individual donors. As a recipient of the grants,
Melody of China will collaborate with a local music group, the San Francisco
Guitar Quartet, to produce “Double Concerto and Mixed Sound” concert
in October 2007. The SF Guitar Quartet and Melody of China's four Chinese
lutes will perform a freshly composed double concerto by composer Gang
Situ, the Electronics with Mixed Ensemble, a newly composed work by Yuanlin
Chen, will be performed at the annual concert and at touring concerts
on the east coast. The Third Annual "Three Sound" Experimental
Music Concert, a contemporary music event, will be held in San Francisco
and the South Bay. Through these collaborations, MOC is seeking new ways
to explore new sounds with Chinese traditional instruments and music.
Also coming up, Melody of China will produce two New Music Concerts:
one at Old First Church in May 2007 and one at the Mountain View Community
School of Arts and Music in August 2007. New works will be premiered
by young composers Eric Myers, Alan Chan, Bik Lee and MOC's residence
composer Dawei Wang.
The programs offered by Melody of China are multi-faceted. They range
from full-length concert performances requiring more than a dozen musicians
to short musical duets and trios. In addition, music lovers in the Bay
Area have enjoyed Melody of China’s regular concerts, music workshops
and classes on traditional Chinese music and musical instruments. The
instruments presented in these concerts and workshops include erhu (Chinese
fiddle) and its derivatives, yangqin (hammered dulcimer), dizi (bamboo
flutes), bawu (silver-copper reed flute), xun (Chinese ocarina), pipa,
ruan, liuqin (Chinese lutes), guzheng (table harp), and a variety of
percussion instruments.
Melody of China has also developed a series of educational programs geared
toward elementary and high school students. Since 1993, Melody of China
has visited nearly a hundred schools and institutions around the Bay
Area. In addition, it has given hundreds of workshops and lectures, many
of which have been incorporated into the multi-cultural curriculum of
local school districts. Many of these programs are done in collaboration
with the Young Audiences of the Bay Area, the Young Audiences of Silicon
Valley & San Jose, Young Imaginations, and Education Division of
the Music Center of Los Angeles County, and Adventures in Music of San
Francisco Symphony's Educational Division, several non-profit, multi-cultural
arts education agencies.
Photographyer: Melody Wang
PHOTO: back row from left to right side: Wei Wang (percussion),
Hong Wang(erhu),
Haiyue Zhang (ruan),
Xian Lu (dizi),
Wanpeng Guo (sheng)
fromt row from left to right side: Gangqin Zhao (guzheng),
Yangqin Zhao (yangqin) and
Linhong Li (pipa)
Booking contact:
Melody of China, Inc.
Hong Wang
312A-25th Ave
San Francisco
California, USA
(415) 640-9825
info@melodyofchina.com