CCCC - News

SANFORD - The Confucius Classroom at Central Carolina Community College welcomed the Chinese New Year with festive Chinese music and colorful paper lanterns as the North Carolina-Research Triangle Park (NC-RTP) Chinese Music Instruments Ensemble performed Feb. 24 at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center.

Titled "Among the Lights" and held on the day of the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival, this musical celebration featured a five-member ensemble playing traditional Chinese instruments and peppering their performance with descriptions about the instruments and songs.

"I loved every minute of it," said Gerald Featherstone, of Pittsboro. "There were really some virtuoso players up on stage. I just wish it had lasted longer."

Composed of dozens of talented musicians, the NC-RTP Chinese Music Instruments Ensemble formed 12 years ago when part-time musicians in the RTP area were drawn together by their love of and familiarity with traditional Chinese music.

Sunday's ensemble was composed of musicians Yuequin Chen, on the zhongruan, a guitar; Jiuping Pan, on the erhu, a violin; Tong Li, on the pipa, a lute; Xiaochun Lu, on the dizi, a flute; and Jennifer Chang, on the guzheng, a zither.

Ling Huang, visiting professor for the Confucius Classroom at CCCC, joined the musicians by providing two narrative interludes during which she explained the customs and symbols of the Chinese New Year.

The performance opened with three traditional folk songs performed by the whole ensemble. This first set included the jaunty "Be Lofty Step By Step"; the softer "Purple Bamboo Tunes"; and the rousing "Golden Snake Dance," which begun with rhythmic tapping on the body of the guitar-like zhongruan and moved to a cheeky call-and-response among the instruments before building in dynamics to a dramatic finish.

The greater part of the concert was devoted to solo performances by each musician. Jennifer Chang presented an introduction to and brief history of each instrument while each musician demonstrated the fingering and playing styles.

"It is so nice, especially for children, to see the different types of instruments in other cultures," said Lauren Winkens, of Sanford, a clarinetist for the Lee County Community Orchestra and a licensed educator of the Kindermusik program, a young child music and movement curriculum.

"The harmonies of the songs may be different, but it is still the same language of music, providing the same emotion of joy," concluded Winkens, who attended the event with her son, Texas.

The solo performances opened with Yueqin Chen, a student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She played two pieces, the first a poignant arrangement of a Bach composition and the second an intense, trilling contemporary Chinese piece called "The Song of Mountain."

Accompanied by Chang on the guzheng, Jiuping Pan on the erhu performed "Beautiful Evening," an earnest, floating melody that was followed by Tong Li's performance on the pipa of "White Snow in the Spring Sunlight," a galloping melody Li told the audience should be reminiscent of last week's beautiful snowfall.

Next Xiaochun Lu played the soft, ethereal tune "A Trip to Gu Su" on the dizi, which is often referred to as the Chinese bamboo flute for the bamboo reed is integral to the instrument's clear, sweet sound.

Jennifer Chang on the guzheng completed the round of solos with a traditional seasonal song whose three-part arrangement depicts a scene of festival: the song's delicate opening symbolizes the drawing back of a curtain to a view of ladies dancing; its gain in volume and driving speed represents the bursting of young boys onto the scene; and the full, romantic richness of the song's conclusion signifies all companions dancing together.

Buffering the solo musical performances were Huang's narrative interludes, in which she spoke to the audience about the significant aspects of the Chinese New Year, such as timing, customs, foods, and family reunions.

During these interludes, photos of Chinese New Year lanterns, foods, and decor were projected onto a large screen, vividly setting before the audience images of the annual holiday.

Huang explained the origins and significance of the Lantern Festival, a lively celebration of the first full moon of the new lunar year that officially marks the end of the multiple-day observance of Chinese New Year.

This new year of 2013 Huang introduced as the Year of the Snake (or "little dragon" as a snake is thought of in Chinese culture). She went into the audience and handed out bookmarks as gifts to audience members born in the various years of the snake (2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, 1941, and 1929).

Huang also offered the children in the audience red packets, symbolic gifts of money (in this case, a coin) wrapped in red paper. Traditionally during Chinese New Year, red money packets are given to children by adults as wishes for good luck and long life.

To conclude the event, the ensemble performed two pieces: "Blooming Flowers and the Full Moon," a festive Chinese New Year song with a lilting cadence, and the American folk song "Oh, Susanna," whose light-hearted and airy opening produced a collective chuckle from the audience before it moved into a quiet, imploring refrain and then finishing with a plucky, up-tempo finale.

After much applause and a few questions from an enthusiastic and engaged audience, Huang summarized well the general sentiment of the crowd with her parting remarks:

"It was a privilege on this day of the Lantern Festival to enjoy traditional Chinese music from brilliant musicians," she said.

In partnership with the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Confucius Institute, the CCCC Confucius Classroom promotes an intercultural exchange of language and culture through a range of educational and outreach activities, including hosting cultural events and offering both curriculum and continuing education Chinese language courses.

For more information about the Confucius Classroom, visit www.cccc.edu/confucius. For more information about the ensemble, visit www.unc.edu/~xiaochun/RTPChinesemusic.htm.

CCCC, Chinese ensemble celebrate Lantern Festival

Central Carolina Community College's Confucius Classroom celebrated the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival with 'Among the Lights,' a concert of traditional Chinese music performed by the NC-RTP Chinese Music Instruments Ensemble. The concert took place Feb. 24 at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. The musicians, all playing traditional Chinese instruments, were (from left) Jiuping Pan on the erhu, a two-stringed violin; Xiaochun Lu on the dizi, a bamboo flute; Tong Li on the pipa, a four-stringed lute; Yueqin Chen on the zhongruan, a four-stringed instrument similar to a guitar; and Jennifer Chang on the guzheng, a zither. The ensemble was founded in 2003 to promote Chinese culture and present concerts and classes. Chang and Confucius Classroom instructor Ling Huang (not pictured) narrated the show. For more information about CCCC's Confucius Classroom, visit its web site at www.cccc.edu/confucius. For more information about the ensemble, visit www.unc.edu

Jennifer Chang, music director of the NC-RTP Chinese Music Instruments Ensemble, performs on the guzheng, a Chinese zither, during the group's performance Feb. 24 at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. Central Carolina Community College's Confucius Classroom hosted the ensemble in celebration of the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival. For more information about CCCC's Confucius Classroom, visit its web site at www.cccc.edu/confucius. For more information about the ensemble, visit www.unc.edu

Yueqin Chen, of the NC-RTP Chinese Music Instruments Ensemble, performs on the zhongruan, a Chinese instrument similar to a guitar, during the group's performance Feb. 24 at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center. Central Carolina Community College's Confucius Classroom hosted the ensemble in celebration of the Chinese New Year Lantern Festival. For more information about CCCC's Confucius Classroom, visit its web site at www.cccc.edu/confucius. For more information about the ensemble, visit www.unc.edu

College News

CCCC, Chinese ensemble celebrate Lantern Festival

02.25.2013 • College & Community, Curriculum Programs, Special Events