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Ena Wang playing the guzheng in Knowing the Spring Courtyard for the Seattle-Luoyang Peony Festival
(Sandy Marvinney photo) |
Last weekend during the Peony Festival at the Seattle Chinese Garden, we had the pleasure of hearing traditional Chinese music. Ena Wang played a beautiful guzheng concert in Knowing the Spring Courtyard. It was through Ena that we contacted her guzheng teacher and master, Shirley Wang.
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| Shirley Wang in Praise of Spring 2013 |
Shirley was born in Inner Mongolia. At six years old she started playing the guzheng. At that time in China it was fashionable for children to study western music on the violin or piano, but she wanted to study something traditional and unique. Her father took her to a very famous teacher of guzheng (zither) and yanqin (hammered dulcimer) and let her try each one. She was happy with her choice of the guzheng because she really liked Chinese traditional music. Her family moved to Beijing when she was 10 and she continued her guzheng studies with the famous Guzheng master Wang Zhou and finished her college and graduate study in the China Conservatory of Music. She started teaching music at the British School of Beijing in 2007. In honor of representing the school in 2009, Shirley gave a Guzheng performance for the British royal family and Prince Andrew. Several years later in Beijing she met a Chinese American man from Seattle—a cousin of one of her students. Shirley came to the US in 2010 as his fiancée, and in 2011 they had two weddings: one in Hohhot and one in Seattle.
The guzheng has a 2,000 year old history. It is the most popular Chinese instrument studied and the easiest to begin learning. Guzheng music is very peaceful and you can play beautiful music just by plucking and strumming the strings even if you don’t know how to play! The erhu and gong are featured in Chinese opera, but the guzheng is designed to be played solo. Now people are playing guzheng in orchestras and playing western music along with guitar and piano. Modern guzheng student Ena Wang is working on an arrangement for Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”
Shirley Wang teaches guzheng in her studio in Issaquah and performs often in the Seattle area. We hope we can convince her to have a recital in Knowing the Spring Courtyard this summer. Check out her
website. Yes, the Titanic theme song with guitar, piano, and guzheng, was written, recorded, and edited by Shirley. Maybe her baby daughter Kayla will become a guzheng master!
Written by Margaret Britton, Seattle Chinese Garden board member responsible for organizing the beautiful reception for the Seattle Luoyang Peony Festival. Margaret interviewed Shirley Wang for this story.
