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State of the Arts: Sound of Dragon fest slays preconceptions of Chinese music

Event includes 'instrument petting zoo'
vico
Lan Tung (second from right) and a Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra small ensemble perform at the Sound of Dragon Festival, which showcases diverse styles of Chinese music.

Lan Tung wants to redefine Chinese music.

“Whenever I play concerts people always [say], ‘Oh yeah, we’re looking forward to this meditating [music.] It’s going to be very beautiful,’” she said. “And I’m thinking, is all we do meditative?”

The Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre will be abuzz with traditional, contemporary, world, improvised, experimental and jazz music May 9 to 11 with the Sound of Dragon Music Festival. Tung wants Vancouver’s first Chinese music festival to reflect multiculturalism and open people’s minds.

“We want to show the variety and the possibility of the instruments and also to reflect the real practice out there,” said Tung, founder, producer and artistic director of the festival and a member of four ensembles, three of which play the festival: the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Orchid Ensemble and Proliferasian.

Chinese melodies fused with African choral response, a pianist improvising and recalling the Chinese pop songs her late mother taught actors in Hong Kong from the 1950s to the 1980s, and a seniors’ choir potentially singing about sexuality will contribute to the celebration.

The Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, one of the first such ensembles in the world, kicks off the festival Friday night with its mix of Chinese, Persian, African, Western and Central American instruments and musical ideas.

“People will see how the instruments from different countries fit together very cohesively in larger ensembles,” Tung said.

The Big World Band and Improviser’s Playland follow VICO.

The Roundhouse will host performances Saturday afternoon, and DB Boyko’s Express Your Voice Choir, comprised of seniors who live around the Roundhouse and meet weekly to create music inspired by their life experience, start the evening show.

“DB told me lately they’ve been discussing about sexuality,” Tung said.

The seniors will be followed by the Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra from Taiwan and a small ensemble from VICO. Proliferasian, which features JP Carter on trumpet, will play Tung’s compositions and improvise, with a guest from the Little Giant Orchestra.

Tung expects some festivalgoers to be surprised by the improvised music Friday and Saturday nights, different approaches to instruments and how they’re used to play different styles.

She says the daytime shows are more traditional than the evening performances and notes the festival is premiering works by Canadian composers.  

Following afternoon performances on Mother’s Day, pianist Lee Pui Ming returns to Vancouver from Toronto to improvise and dedicate a portion of her performance to the memory of her late mother, Hui Pui or Xu Pei. The B.C. Chinese Music Ensemble and Nu:BC closes the festival with new and selected works.

Ticket prices have been kept low, Tung said, to enable fans of one type of music to experience another for the same cost.

Sound of the Dragon includes an instrument petting zoo so visitors can give them a whirl. “Kids don’t necessarily need to take violin and piano lessons,” Tung said. “There are other choices as well and maybe something else they will like.”

The event also includes Taiwanese street food.

Outreach and educational programs precede the festival with a workshop with Pui Ming at Western Front, May 8 and an educational day for school children at the Roundhouse, May 9.

“Come and be surprised and enjoy,” Tung said. “We try to give educational value at the same time of entertaining and also bringing a high quality of art.”

Details at soundofdragon.com.

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