Watch here the virtual concert that Xuefei Yang recently performed through the Omni Foundation at Zhizhu Temple, while reading the brief talk we had with her about this and other projects:
Mrs. Xuefei Yang, can you tell us about this and how it compares to your experiences playing in other Chinese venues?
What a memorable performance that was! As I said, audiences for classical music are growing rapidly. Every city is trying to outdo the others by building bigger and more beautiful concert halls. But this concert was performed in a 15th-century temple! This is a rarity in China. The funny thing is that even though I’m from Beijing, I didn’t know about this ancient temple. So when the Omni Foundation asked for a concert in a historic location, I was thrilled. It was not easy to make the audio quality suitable for the guitar in such an ample space. It was such a special event because it’s not often that a concert is held in such a location. On top of that, the concert took place on my birthday too! Organizing and focusing on this concert performance helped me handle some of the added stresses and complications of the ongoing pandemic, so I’m very thankful for that.
What future projects do you have?
I have a string of recording projects coming up. To start things off, next month, I am recording a new concerto written for me by British composer John Brunning, with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, along with the complete collection of his other guitar works.
As Artistic Director of the Changsha International Guitar Festival, we will also be doing an online international guitar competition this year to give opportunities to the young players confined at home by covid. Details will be announced soon on the festival website.