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CONFLUENCE with Vancouver Erhu Quartet

2021/12/02 (Thursday)

CONFLUENCE

Vancouver Erhu Quartet

8pm Friday Dec 10, 2021 at the Annex, Vancouver

Presented by the Sound of Dragon Society

Created during the past year of the pandemic, the Vancouver Erhu Quartet explores the sonic possibilities combining the erhu (Chinese violin) with western strings. The quartet consists of Vancouver erhu players Lan Tung and Jun Rong, violinist/violist Parmela Attariwala, and cellist Sungyong Lim. They bring together expertise in various genres, from traditional, contemporary, classical, avant-garde, and world/cross-cultural music to interdisciplinary performances. This performance is the quartet`s first in front of a live audience and will be the world premier of music written by Vancouver and Montreal composers Edward Top, Jin Zhang, and Tim Brady.

Traditional music in Asia often involves unison melodies. However, each instrument may use different ornamentation to complement the others. Edward Top’s “Confluence” combines this approach with a Dutch minimalist “microcanon” technique, where a motive in unison is played deliberately slightly out-of sync to create a delay effect. Tim Brady’s music has two contrasting moods: slow static harmonies and fast polyrhythms. Being an erhu player himself, Jin Zhang composes “Teasing Golden Snake” with idiomatic erhu techniques to vividly depict a dynamic scene of snake dance and the magic of an entertaining snake charmer. Mark Armanini’s new arrangement of his romantic “Night Song” brings out the singing quality of the four instruments that weave densely together.

Known for its expressive sounds, the erhu is a very versatile instrument that has been used in various musical genres around the world. An instrument of ancient roots, the modern erhu has undergone significant development in its construction/workmanship, techniques, and repertoire. An erhu quartet is a new performance format starting to emerge in Asia in recent years. There are currently only a handful of erhu quartets in the world, and the Vancouver Erhu Quartet is the first one in Canada.

Tickets: Regular $19.99 & Students/Seniors/Children $15 at https://confluence.bpt.me/

More info at:

https://soundofdragon.com/veq/ https://www.facebook.com/SoundofDragon