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Published: December 18th 2007
David invited us see a traditional Chinese music concert at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. He and Barbara had been invited by the owner of a music shop where they had previously purchased some instruments. Tuesday night six of us piled into a black market van taxi and arrived at the store where the owner was waiting to walk us to the conservatory. We found out that it was an ErHu (air hoo) concert featuring other instruments. An ErHu is a string instrument with a long neck and a small cylindrical body at the bottom where snake skin is stretched. There are two strings running the length of the instrument and they are attached on top of one another. The bow is fixed in between the two strings so the strings can be manipulated to create different sounds.
The man featured is the Vice President and a professor at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music. He has traveled through the country and abroad to play ErHu and lecture. The house was packed, it was standing room only. People were dying to catch a glimpse of the concert; it made me feel more special for actually having seats. The concert began with two
solos by Hu Zhiping himself. He really manipulated it to have a more western violin sound. He featured other performers with different instruments in his later songs. It was really interesting to see these traditional Chinese instruments played in a more western style; especially western keys with which Chinese music is not often associated. The songs became more spectacular as more instruments joined. the most impressive was when the back wall of the stage opened to reveal a full set of bells and slate. This set up is very traditional and often played at temples and museums. The small orchestra was very powerful and moving. After 3 encores Hu Zhiping finally accepted the dozens of flower bouquets given to him and the concert ended. It was a wonderful experience which snapped me back to reality that not only are we living in a country which is rapidly modernizing, but we are living in a country with a rich history. It was great to experience a piece of that history.
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