Erhu Exhibition and Sapporo Erhu Concert by Four Players
- 張亜紀子
- Sep 19
- 4 min read
A maintenance and exhibition of erhu instruments was held by Nagoya's Mac Corporation over three days over the consecutive holidays last weekend, and on the second day, we performed at the event "Mini Concert by Four Erhu Players from Sapporo." We would like to thank the many customers who came to the event.
For more details about the background of this concert, please see the Instagram accounts of fellow performers Yuki and Hoshi Chihiro . After two practice sessions with five people, including pianist Yamashita Kyoko , and one more fun practice session with Mori Atsushi , we arrived at the day with excited anticipation. (Mac Corporation Erhu Exhibition and Sapporo Erhu Players Concert)
The song is 1. Autumn song medley
2. Encounter
3. Monfu
4. Tenzan style
5. beijing gold sun
6. Jin
7. gangnam spring color
8. Komyo-gyo
1 and 8 are an ensemble by everyone, 2 is a DUO by Yuuki and Hoshi, 5 is a DUO by Mori and me,
The rest are solos by each of the four members.
Each player has a completely different background in studying the erhu, and each erhu has a completely different personality, including their playing style, sound production, and expression. The sheet music is different, and everything from the fingering to the bowing is completely different. The only thing they have in common is their understanding of the melody line.
Does that even fit?!
You may be thinking, "Oh no!" but it's a very rich color variation! It's a concert with a unique flavor that you won't find anywhere else!
Solo colors, DUO colors mixed with two colors, and complex colors mixed with everyone.
What did it actually feel like to you when you listened to it?
Please let us know your thoughts.
Personally, I enjoyed listening to each of their solos.
Meng Feng is a difficult and brave modern piece for the erhu (in my mind I always imagine Genghis Khan riding horses and galloping towards me in a group), and it is a masculine piece with many techniques, making it perfect for Mr. Mori.
"Tianshan Fume" is another modern piece. It tells the story of a mysterious sacred site discovered during an adventure in the Tianshan Mountains of Uyghur (another song that makes me think of Indiana Jones). The mysterious feel of this piece is perfect for Yuki.
Oh, the images of these songs are just my own, so please don't take them too seriously.
(I don't know the textbook explanation 💦)
And Jin is the main theme of the drama. I only glanced at the drama so I don't know much about it, but my maternal ancestors apparently did something similar to the main character in the Edo period, and since there was no medical science yet, they used traditional natural medicines to heal people.
I had just heard this story by chance from my mother this summer, so I felt a connection with this selection of songs and was deeply moved by Hoshi's performance.
Mine is "Spring Colors of Gangnam," a song about the beautiful spring coming to the water city of Gangnam.
There are so many images that come to mind: the soft spring air, the joy of budding buds, the momentum of spring arriving all at once, etc. Without any explanation, Yamashita-san, a pianist with a keen sense of intuition and musicality, accompanied me on my journey to Gangnam from the time of practice. I'm so grateful for lifting my spirits with his gentle music.
This is getting long, so I'll summarise the concert here:
In this way, everyone can enjoy playing the erhu, regardless of their classroom boundaries or individual personalities.
I think this has been sufficiently proven.
This event started with Yuki and Hoshi's desire to promote erhu in Hokkaido.
I hope that this will continue to develop and that we will one day be able to hold events such as the Hokkaido Erhu Festival!
I will leave it to the younger generation, including Mr. Mori🙇♀️
Thank you so much to everyone for everything this time!
I was very happy to meet so many different people at the venue.
On the third day, we had to go back to the venue for maintenance.
At that time, you can try out, look at, and touch the erhu itself, its case, and various accessories that are on display.
There is a wide selection of products and it feels like the store has been moved as is, which is fun.
My favorite part was trying out the strings.
By playing an erhu with over 10 different types of strings, you can experience the differences between the strings.
I learned a lot.
The strings I found to be the best were also sold at the China Erhu Academy. (So happy!)
Mac, you must have been exhausted after working on maintenance for three long days. I take my hat off to you.
It seems that they have toured various parts of the country, but this is their first time in Hokkaido.
Thank you very much to the two people from Mac Corporation for coming all the way here.
Chinese Erhu Academy website
Comments