Members of "Twelve Girls' Band," China's first all-women traditional instrument ensemble, played in Tokyo July 24, for the launch of the band's first album, "Miracle." Very much impressed by their spell-binding performance, Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, TBS and NHK flocked to cover the ceremony. Platia Entertainment Inc. even planned to invest 200 million Japanese yen in the band, hoping to see its success in Japan and further a field in the United States.

Who Are They?

Twelve antique traditional instruments. Twelve spirited, pretty girls. The all-women band staged its premiere at the 21st Century Theatre in Beijing on October 5, 2001.

"Twelve Girls' Band," which was founded in Beijing July 2001, is composed variously of women from the Central Conservatory of Music, the China Academy of Music, and the China National Chinese Opera and Dance Drama Company. A common ideal has united the twelve girls: "Performing melodious music with traditional instruments and bringing it to the world."

They went all out to achieve this goal with endless rehearsing and recording. "Sometimes I feel really exhausted," said Lei Ying, an ethnic player in the band. "However, I've never complained. Tanned skin and sweat-soaked clothes are our most popular fashion feature in the summer. As a matter of fact, this is where our beauty lies."

Another player Zhan Lijun is deeply impressed with the atmosphere of solidarity and friendship in the band. "Once I messed up several times in a row while recording quite a difficult tune," Zhan recalled. "At the dining table later, other players cracked jokes constantly to relieve me of my depression. Then a miracle occurred. After entering the studio again, I did it in just one take!"

Unique Chinese and Western Style Performance Combined

Besides age-old traditional instruments peculiar to China, such as zheng (ancient plucked instrument with 21 or 25 strings), qin (seven-stringed plucked instrument), ruan (a plucked stringed instrument), pipa (plucked stringed instrument with a fretted fingerboard), sanxian (three-stringed plucked instrument), erhu (two-stringed Chinese fiddle) and bamboo flute, the band have put little known ethnic instruments on the stage, such as danpao (single-stringed plucked instrument played by the Jing ethnic group), ebi (single-reed woodwind of the Hani ethnic group) and tuliang (non-reed bamboo wind instrument of the Jingpo ethnic group).

Mixing exquisite Chinese classical music with the rhythm of jazz, rock'n'roll and Hip-Hop, their unique performance is a real eye-opener for their audience.

"The 'Twelve Girls' Band' is a traditional instrument orchestra playing well-known folk music in the form of pop," said Wang Xiaojing, founder of the band and manager of Xingdie Disc Corporation. "We didn't ruin folk music. What we have done is to create a novel way of playing it."

"Some musicians have played so-called 'neo-folk music' before, but they put too much stress on singing at the expense of the traditional instruments," Wang said. "This time, I want to emphasize the charm of the ancient instruments."

Changing the traditional way of sitting while playing, Wang required all twelve girls to stand while on the stage. Thus the performance of the charismatic instruments is fully displayed for the audience to see.

"The purpose of establishing 'Twelve Girls' Band' was to develop Chinese folk music's unique style," Wang said. "Combined with various factors including stage design, visual effects, clothing, and mode of performance, we hope we can create entirely new folk music that is pleasant both to the ear and to the eye. I have the confidence that such music can be circulated worldwide."

On Tour

After their first successful performance in Beijing, the "Twelve Girls' Band" show was aired on CCTV and on many local television broadcast stations in Beijing, Shandong and Heilongjiang. They also toured campuses across China and won the applause of college students.

In 2002, "Twelve Girls' Band" went down south and made quite a hit in Guangzhou, a city always absorbing novelty. They played "ShangriLa," a melody rich in Tibetan flavor, at Guangzhou's Huanghuagang Theatre. It was this sweet melody that made the all-women band known to overseas music producers.

In November 2002, the band signed with Warner Music (Japan), becoming mainland China's first traditional instrument orchestra to sign with an overseas music corporation.

In July 2003, the twelve girls arrived in Tokyo to attend a ceremony celebrating the launch of their first album, "Miracle," and started a one-month tour of Japan.

"Winning the Grammy Awards is our next goal," Wang Xiaojing said.

What's Yuefang?

The twelve girls called their band yuefang (music workshop).

As a music workshop in the imperial palace, Yuefang was first set up during the reign (618-626) of Wude, 1st emperor of the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Only female players were recruited into yuefang, ranked as neiren (advanced) and guanren (ordinary). Besides playing pipa, sanxian and konghou (a plucked stringed instrument with five to twenty-five strings), usually they also had to study singing and dancing.

Twelve Men Behind Twelve Women

Honestly, the credit for the twelve girls' success should be given to twelve entrepreneurs who were willing to invest heavily in the band while remaining unknown to the public.

"Twelve Girls' Yuefang -- this name is profound and moral," said Yang, one of the twelve entrepreneurs whose name is anonymous at his own request. "Firstly, yuefang originated in the Tang Dynasty, a historical period famous for its prosperity, openness and active cultural exchange, which is quite similar to the current climate of China today.

"Secondly, twelve is a magic number in Chinese history, such as the twelve symbolic animals used to denote the year of one's birth, and the twelve beauties in Cao Xueqin's A Dream of Red Mansions. However, in the band, twelve does not mean that all the girls must perform on the stage simultaneously, or that there are only twelve instruments to be played. On the contrary, as you have seen and heard, almost all traditional instruments have been included in the band's performance," Yang added.

To invest in the band, Yang admitted there was a huge risk to be undertaken. "Nevertheless, the establishment of the 'Twelve Girls' Band' broke a path for present-day folk music performance. I am ready to take the risk as long as the audience can always find something fresh and new in their music," he said.

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