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Activity day:2015-12-16
Published At：2015-12-16
Views:285
2017-02-12 updated
Hu String and Percussion Music Concert: A touching and professional concert found in NTU EMBA
The very first concert of NTU EMBA Er-Hu Clan had been held on Dec. 2, 2015; with NTU EMBA Percussion Ensemble Club as the honor opening performer and the Love Neighbors Club’s vocals. The concert was a classic, East-West fusion collaboration that presents covers of familiar old songs in Mandarin Chinese, heart-touching movie scores, and cheerful Christmas melodies as good wishes and appreciations for dear friends who share the same hobbies and interests. The guest sign-in sheet placed at the entrance of the concert hall had been filled already by dignitaries and celebrities before 6:50 pm. The entire basement of the College of Management was also fully filled by the fellow student audience. Wu Xiang-Sheng, student of Class 2007, sponsored light refreshment prepared by the Caesar Hotel as the pre-concert treat. Elegant snacks, warm reception, exquisite program hand-outs; the Er-Hu Clan was quite serious with its way of hospitality.
The NTU EMBA Percussion Ensemble Club’s exciting opening show was introduced by the articulate and humorous golden host of the night, He Rong, aka He the angelic chord singer. As the light dimmed, powerful African percussion led the beginning of the evening’s program. Conducted by teacher He Hong-Qi and teacher Chen Si-Kuan, the percussion ensemble presented 3 varieties of the wild ‘Untamed Africa”, energetic Latin ‘So Nice”, and cheerful ‘Christmas Mix’, using African drums, vibraphone, xylophone, and marimba. After their performance, teacher Chen introduced teacher He and recounted the story about teacher He’s rising to the deputy band leader of the Ju Percussion Group as to encourage the audience to sign up with NTU EMBA Percussion Club.
After the overture of the concert, the guests and faculty members were introduced to the audience. Sun Zheng-Da, of Class 2005, using his routine jest tone, introduced members of Er-Hu Clan down to details with little reservation, and he won the floor and the full attention of the audience. After which, the half-year old C-Team of Er-Hu Clan, consisted with 10 novice players, presented brilliant, classic ‘Sweet Osmanthus Lane’, cultural and ethnic Chinese tune of ‘Descendants of Dragon’, and Christmas ambience ‘Jingle Bells’. The three diversified styles of music were brilliantly joined to present varied tempo in one fluent and dramatic designed sequence. The senior members and the A and B Teams of Er-Hu Clan, proud of their skills and experience, and confident, presented three familiar main themes of TV shows and movies tying around the subject of ‘expectation’ The happy and sweet ‘Castle of the Sky’ delivered the yearning for dreams; the sensational ‘Beautiful Myth’ told the mutual covenant between lovers; and the loving ‘Flowers and Women’ recounted the deepest sadness in the heart of a woman. Almost comparable to human voice, the picking and striking on Er-Hu’s strings brought back the retro sentiments and sang the transitions of lifetime. When the music sounded again, it was the overture of ‘Phantom of the Opera’. As the audience wondered what would follow, the monumental, powerful music presented by the Er-Hu band was the ‘Men on Their Own’, a remix version of a classic Chinese music, ‘General’s Order’ and the main theme of a popular Hong Kong movie, ‘Huang Fei-Hung’. Aided with a piano and supported with 30 pieces off Er-Hu, the cross-boundary team of Sung Rong-Xian’s (of Class 2006) bamboo flute and Wang Ji-Qin’s (of Class 2013) jazz drums presented this piece of music in an unstoppable, pounding-like melody, describing masculine heroism. In a sudden transition, the music switched to the ‘A Laugh to the World’, the main theme of ‘The Smiling, Proud Wanderer’, which took the audience onto a rollercoaster ride. The attempt of fusion of the East and the West was thrilling. More to the audience excitement, Xie Ming-Hui, CEO, NTU EMBA, whose routine apparel was always jeans, appeared on the stage in dignified and elegant, purple and red modern short-version cheongsam, holding also an Er-Hu in her hands, and presented to the audience ‘Chrysanthemum Pagoda’, a duet with Feng Miao-Feng (of Class 2012)’s Pipa. Their music was added with flowing bamboo flute performed by Chen Liang-Ji, Vice President of NTU, through modern technology, who was not physically on the stage. They had Er-Hu, Chinese flute, and Pipa to jointly present the gentle context of classic Chinese music and culture. But the crescendo was yet to come. The featured presentation of this evening was coming. Teacher Guo Shan-Ru, master of this concert, in matured, feminine low-cut black dress, subtle in general, shocked the audience with the masculine ‘Descending Calvary’. Her powerful, almost anger-like use of the bow for the Er-Hu was extremely descriptive and still able to express the demanding details of the emotion transitions of this tune with her master-class technique. Her body language, eyes, performance, and rhythm control precisely re-enacted the battle field where heroic warriors fought in valor. Her performance was vivid ad life-like. She interpreted this reference-level music with her refined techniques on the bow. For example, she could mimic the neighing of the entire horde of war horses charging through a dessert. As the music ended, the audience went crazy and rewarded her with roof-breaking applause and cheering. Not only teacher Goo’s performance showed what professional performance is all about, but also that her intensive charms and elegant appearance won the audience. Following the passionate performance was a break. Crowds of students of all classes and years chatted and exchanged recent updates, while the staff gave away cute little LED lights, a hint to more surprise in the bottom half of the concert. The cute little lights also demonstrated the creativity and thoughtfulness of the Er-Hu Clan and warmed everyone’s heart for the winter’s holiday season.
The bottom half of the concert was quite creative. First was the cover of Zhou Zhi-Pin’s ‘Zheng’ by Zhu Cheng-Zhi (of Class 2011), the Prince of Guitar; teacher Wu Lu-de, the spiritual vocal; Wang Ji-Qing (of Class 2013), an idol-like Cajon player; teacher Guo Shan-Ru, the master of Er-Hu; and Sun Zheng-Da, for vocal. No one knew if it was a gag for drama effect or not, as they just began, they called NG and the show came to a jolting stop, and the audience burst into laughter. The host explained that Chen Shen did this in his concert all the times. Once again as the guitar was gently stricken, light and cheerful melody flew in and brought the audience back through time and space to the live concert of campus trend songs, of which singings and the instrumentals carried countless memories of joy and sadness. It was nice, and warming, that their performance brought back the memories and shared emotions of the good old days to the audience to remember once again about their teen stories. The second one was a cover of Chen Yi-Xin’s ‘De a Vu’, with piano intro by Liou Cheng-Zhi (of Class 2009). As the piano intro started, its emotional interpretation immediately attracted the cameras on site to set focus around the piano in a hilarious fashion. Sun Zheng-Da’s charming, matured, and rich male bass captured everyone’s heart. Teacher Lu-De’s innocent vocal and teacher Shan-Ru’s silky soft Er-Hu were deep like a poem and beautiful like a painting, and offered comfort to the souls in chaotic daily routines, intoxicating the audience who once again learned the healing power of music. The only Er-Hu solo in the bottom half was ‘Ballad of Northern Hebei’ performed by Sun Wei-Ren (of Class 2006), co-founder of Er-Hu Clan, who had been practicing this piece for decades with dedication, and with teacher Guo Shan-Ru’s piano accompaniment. This duet between Er-Hu and piano on the stage was sometimes modest and sometimes excited. The matured and rich Er-Hu seemed to tell the outcast of mortal life and grand tolerance, and the stable and rich sound penetrated the audience. Following the solo was a double Er-Hu ensemble of ‘Confession After Drunk’ with Liou Ya-Jun (of Class 2012), another co-founder of Er-Hu Clan. The sorrowful melody from the two Er-Hu had saddened the audience as if the no one in the audience was sober. Before the chorus for December began, all members of Er-Hu Clan gathered on the stage, and the members of the Love Neighbors Club stood on two sides. A grand formation of more than 50 people already attracted attention from the audience. The elegant intro was ‘Amazing Grace’ performed by teacher Guo’s Er-Hu and Lu-De’s piano, touching the audience note by note and beat by beat. The leading vocals by Dean Guo Ruei-Xiang; Dean of College of Management, and Sun Cheng-Da, and the Er-Hu’s melody had intoxicated the audience. The chorus by about 15 members of the Love Neighbors Club was also brilliant. Luo Rong-Yueh (of Class 2006), who was savvy with vocal, gave graceful chord. Immediately came after was ‘You Raise Me Up’, a world classic, by the full team of Er-Hu Clan. The calm and soothing melody had touched all sensitive minds. In the second time, in addition to the piano and Er-Hu, was the grand chorus of all performers; their performance was so pleasant that the audience was brought to the brim of tears. The grand chorus in the finale were ‘The First Noel’ and ‘Joy to the World’. The host asked all lights be turned on and the audience to join the singing from the stage, as if the Sungreat Hall was a church to all the little fans. Reluctant to leave, all the audience climbed onto the stage for photo. Sun Cheng-Da presented to the audience Lian Su-Ping (of Class 2012) and OJ (of Class 2009) as the key persons who made possible of the concert. He also thanked Cheng Yong-Lin (of Class 1998) and Huang Xi-Yan (of Class 2001). He also mentioned several key contributors behind the scene, such as Chen Wu-Ji (of Class 2008), who helped with taking documentary photos since the afternoon rehearsal; Dong Ming-Xun (of Class 2005), who was the stage director; and Zhang Yu-Ren, who was savvy wind music player. When leaving the College of Management, it was about 22:00 already. Flipping through the program handout, ‘Hu String and Percussion Music’, somewhat dampened by the drizzling rain as I retrieve my car in the parking, I read the hand-writing of Dean Guo: “December is a month for a feast of mind. The students’ talented performance of instrument and church chorus bring the peace and joy bestowed by God. Wish you all to immerse in the beauty of music. Let’s be grateful for the grace in 2015 and content for the joy.” When driving home my mind was filled with the scenes of the concert. The car stereo was not turned on, but the music from the concert still running through in my mind. It was too soon to be home, and I wished for more time to savor the wonderful melodies of this evening.
Note: Video clips for the concert 20151202 NTU EMBA Er-Hu Clan in Live
My playlist on YouTube News coverage on 12/2 ‘Hu String and Percussion Music’ concert on YouTube:
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