Yu Cheng - Chinese Masterpieces of the Pipa and Qin (2007) MP3

Cheng Yu is an internationally renowned pipa and qin virtuoso, and former soloist at the China Central Orchestra of Chinese Music in Beijing. She attained BMus. (Xi’an Conservatory of Music, China), MMus and PhD (SOAS, University of London) degrees in pipa and qin performance and in ethnomusicology. She is the founder of the UK Chinese Music Ensemble (1996), the London Youlan Qin Society (2003) and the Silk String Quartet (2006). Born in Beijing, Cheng Yu studied the Pudong (South China) style of pipa from the age of seven and was later trained in the Pinghu (North-western) style. She also studied the guqin at the Xi’an Conservatory of Music and graduated with distinction in 1987. After winning the “Outstanding Pipa Player” award in China in the same year she was selected as a pipa soloist in the prestigious Central Orchestra of Chinese Music in Beijing. She furthered her qin performance under the tutelage of China’s most acclaimed Northern and Southern grand masters Li Xiangting and Gong Yi. Since the 1990s she has been based in London and currently teaches pipa and guqin and researches at SOAS, University of London. She has performed widely throughout the UK and in over forty countries worldwide and has released four solo albums and many collaborative CDs. Her pioneering project to recreate a five-stringed pipa which had been lost since the 8 th century has won major awards from Women in Music, the Arts Council of England and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. In 2005 the world premieres of the five-stringed pipa both in London and in Seoul (South Korea) were highly acclaimed and the 2006 CD, Cheng Yu and Her 5-string Pipa was the first ever recording of five-stringed pipa music. A book, documenting the historical research, instrument construction and the composition and performance aspects of the five-string pipa project is forthcoming.

Tracklist
8:00 | 01. Xiang-ting Li - Flowing Water
3:54 | 02. Yu Cheng - White Snow In Sunny Spring
6:18 | 03. Xiang-ting Li - Wild Geese Descending On The Sandy Beach
4:39 | 04. Yu Cheng - Dragon Boat
7:52 | 05. Yu Cheng - Dance Of The Yi People
11:43 | 06. Yu Cheng - Flute And Drum At Sunset
7:54 | 07. Xiang-ting Li - 3 Variations On The Plum Blossom
6:58 | 08. Yu Cheng - Ambushed On All Sides

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