Culture

Audience appreciate the language of music

By Li Jing ( chinadaily.com.cn ) Updated: 2014-09-14 10:31:51

Audience appreciate the language of music

Flutist Rhonda Larson.

"The instrument is very new for me, I have only been using it for a couple of months," Larson said.

The band performed three Chinese tunes in the Beijing show.

"In order to get some Chinese flute tunes, I searched online. I first heard a vocal sound of the melody and fell in love with it. It is very powerful and beautiful," Larson said.

It was Your Collar, a Chinese tune from the Han Dynasty (206 BC -AD 220). The band reinterpreted the Chinese tune by combining creatively Chinese bamboo flute and jazz bass.

"Just like spice to food, when we take a melody from a particular culture, we normally add some new elements to make it something different," added bassist Wadopian.

Huang Xin, 34, is a big fan of flutes and traveled for two hours to attend the show.

"I gave up my flute dream because of my visual impairment," Huang said. "It is the first time I have listened to a live flute show. I love it and it is really amazing."

Percussionist Koebel believed music was an excellent means to communicate with Huang and others with visual impairments.

"Music is unique in arts. If you are visually impaired, you can't appreciate visual arts, or films, but music has very few barriers and you can perceive all the details of the sound."

The audience, even though they didn't understand English, really enjoyed the music. They resonated with the band and sang along as they played a popular folk dance of the Yao ethnic group in China.

"They can feel the message the band brought from the United States," said Alan Clark, assistant cultural affairs officer from the US Embassy of China, s sponsor of the charity show. "We will continue to bring more great cultural events to China."

 
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