Harding presents concert of Chinese folk music

Feb. 14, 2019 |

The Harding University Department of Music is hosting three internationally renowned Chinese musical performers: Xiang Liu, Yang Liu and Xie Jun. They will be accompanied by Harding student Yingying Chen and assistant professor of music Lis Jones. The concert will be at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 18 in the Reynolds Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.

“It's uncommon for us to have multiple performers from China who are all internationally known,” Dr. Cliff Ganus, chair of the music department and director of the Harding Chorus, said. “We look forward to this evening of traditional Chinese music. We're grateful for a relationship with Guangdong University that helped to make this concert possible.”

Vocalist Xiang (Grace) Liu, an assistant professor of vocal music at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, researches Chinese vocal music performance and teaching. She is a member of the Research Institute of Chinese National Vocal Music, Musicians’ Association of Guangdong, and China National Society of Collegiate Music Education. In 2010, she released her first solo album “Fengwan Qingyang” (Elegant Breeze Is Blowing).

Yang Liu is an award-winning player of the erhu, a Chinese two-stringed fiddle. He has been a member of the China Broadcast Chinese Orchestra, the Central Folk Orchestra of China, and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, where he is currently the Zhonghu Principal. Liu is also an executive committee member of the Erhu Society under the Chinese Musicians Association and has performed all over the world, including concerts in Austria, the United States, Germany, France and Denmark.

Xie Jun is a yangqin artist and associate professor and graduate advisor in the Chinese National Music Department of the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. He is currently a visiting scholar at the Center for Chinese Music and Culture of Middle Tennessee State University.

Yingying (Nicki) Chen, who began her studies at Guangdong, is now completing her degree at Harding through the collaborative agreement of the two universities. Chen will perform on one of the selections.

“Harding music majors take a course in world music; but an opportunity like this to hear and visit with outstanding musicians from another culture is rare,” Ganus said.

For more information about upcoming events in the music department, visit harding.edu/music or call 501-279-4343. To learn more about special events and other free and low cost services offered by the University, visit harding.edu/community .