| Liu Fang is an internationally
acclaimed virtuoso for pipa
and guzheng.
Born in 1974 in Kunming in the province of Yunnan, China,
she began playing the pipa at the age of 6, and by 11, she
performed before Queen Elizabeth II. Her studies at the Shanghai
Conservatory of Music broadened her musical range to include
the study of the guzheng. At the age of 22, Liu Fang immigrated
to Canada and she currently resides in Montreal.
Since 1999, she has performed
hundreds of solo concerts featuring Chinese traditional
and classical music on her two solo instruments, at such
prestigious venues as the Théâtre de la Ville
in Paris, the Philharmonic Hall of Liège, Belgium,
and the Bath International Music Festival. Her profile has
risen rapidly due to her rich and deeply spiritual performances
and her extensive repertoire. Described in the media as
the "empress of pipa" (L'actualité, Canada),
"divine mediator" (World, France), " a great
ambassador for the Chinese music " (de Volkskrant,
The Netherlands), Liu Fang is known as “possessing
virtuoso technique, grace and a unique empathy toward the
music she plays – whether it is a traditional and
folk tune or a modern Western composition” (All Music
Guide, USA). "
Apart from her numerous solo
concerts, Liu Fang has also many intercultural collaborations
in terms of "Silk
and Steel Projects", where "Silk" represents
the traditional culture of China whereas "steel"
is a metaphor for modernity and western culture. Her last
album entitled "Silk Sound" (Le son de soie) featured
musical dialogues with artists from three different continents
and was awarded the grand
prize of L'Académie Charles Cros, the French equivalent
of the US Recording Academy. Back in 2001, Liu Fang was
the only musician to receive the prestigious "Future
Generation Millennium Prize" awarded by the Canada
Council for the Arts to three artists of different disciplines
under 30 years of age. The words of the jury summed up her
achievements rather succinctly: "Liu Fang's mastery
of the pipa and the guzheng has established her international
reputation as a highly talented young interpreter of traditional
Chinese music. She aspires to combine her knowledge and
practice of eastern traditions with western classical music,
contemporary music and improvisation, thereby creating new
musical forms, uniting different cultures and discovering
new audiences."
Liu Fang has made a number of
national and international TV
& Radio appearances, produced several
CDs. Liu Fang was invited as one of the featured artists
by BBC World Service for the concert on November 7, 2003
dedicated to World AIDS Day. She performed at the 60th anniversary
of UNESCO in Paris on November 16, 2005, and has also been
honored by the government of Canada. She has performed with
orchestras, string quartets and various instruments the
works of many contemporary composers, including, among others,
Tan Dun and R. Murray Schafer.
|
Liu
Fang
Liu
Fang performed solo pipa at the Book Lover’s Ball in honour of
the RIVER OF STARS by Guy Gavriel Kay, the award-winning, internationally
bestselling author of 11 fantasy novels
Videos:
Liu Fang concert live in St. Petersburg & the reparts from Russian
TV.
“The
empress of pipa - one of the greatest virtuosos" -
L'actualité (Québec). 
