The Sound of Guqin Chen Leiji

• 1 Dialogue of Fisherman and Woodsman 11:28
• 2 Memories of an Old Friend 09:55
• 3 Wild Geese on the Sandbank 06:50
• 4 Soaring Dragons 05:34
• 5 Flowing Water 07:25
• 6 Plum Blossom Melody 08:52
• 7 Boatmen's Chant 08:15
• Total Runtime 58:19

Info for The Sound of Guqin

Chen Leiji studied guqin at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and was the first student of the guqin master Gong Yi. The seven-stringed fingerboard zither is an instrument of Chinese classical music that is essentially played as a solo instrument. The art of Guqin music is a UNESCO cultural heritage and has existed for more than 3,000 years. The original repertoire included several thousand compositions, of which a few hundred are still preserved today and are played and performed regularly. Leiji travels the world as a solo guqin player and was chosen in 2008 to play the most famous guqin piece - "Lost Sound of Antiquity" - at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing.

Chen Leiji, guqin

Chen Leiji
began studying guqin at the age of nine. He is the first guqin graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and the first student of guqin master Gong Yi. Chen Leiji also holds a graduate diploma in Orchestral Conducting from the Rheims Conservatory. His in-depth study of Chinese and Western musical traditions places him at a virtual point of confluence to establish a unity in the world even as we grow profoundly conscious of the treasures of its diversity. Chen has also contributed to creating several contemporary works, including Liu Yuan’s Youlan with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, and Luo Zhongrong’s Concerto for Guqin and Concerto for an Instrument of Silence with the Amsterdam Nieuw Ensemble.

Since his return to China, Chen has been teaching orchestral conducting at the Chinese Conservatory of Music and touring the world as a guqin soloist. He was chosen to play The Lost Sound of Antiquity, thought to be the most famous guqin piece, at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

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