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Red as a color signifies myriads of things: passion,
burning desire, abundant light and courage, among others. This
color, however, takes another dimension as it becomes associated
with sound and harmony just as how it is adopted in the name of a
musical ensemble called “The Red Chamber,” a group of Chinese
musicians from Vancouver, Canada. This name takes its inspiration
from the traditional Chinese “plucked string” repertoire that is
seldom if ever heard in the west. Featuring only plucked strings,
Red Chamber creates a unique sound while performing a repertoire
that spans centuries, including transcriptions from the Tang Dynasty
(618 to 907), to modern compositions. Red Chamber is exploring other
genres of plucked string music like Bluegrass, jazz, and a host of
other folk traditions.
The concert of the Red Chamber
will be held at the Abelardo Hall of the University of the
Philippines on July 14 at 6 p.m. This will be preceded by an
interesting lecture-workshop about Chinese string instruments at 10
a.m. These events are for free as the Office for Initiatives on
Culture and the Arts (OICA) and the University of the Philippines
College of Music will be sponsoring the production.
On the following day, July 15,
the Red Chamber will conduct the same workshop at the Ateneo
University (CTC, or the Converging Technology Center 102, Science
Building.) at 4:30 p.m. The departments of Chinese Studies,
Interdisciplinary Studies, and Fine Arts are all involved in hosting
this workshop.
On the other hand, Far
Eastern University through its President’s Committee on Culture
will present Red Chamber on July 20 at 4:30 p.m. at the Far Eastern
University (FEU) Auditorium. This event is part of the 2009 to 2010
Performing Arts Season celebrating the 60th anniversary of the FEU
Auditorium. This performance of the Red Chamber is also free and
open to the public.
This is the first visit of the
Red Chamber in the Philippines and it will be an enlightening and
passionate experience for Filipino and Chinese communities, as well
as to all lovers of music, to see.
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