The Tucson Guitar Society welcomes the great Chinese guitarist Xuefei Yang to celebrate Lunar New Year with us on January 25th. Her program explores music from diverse cultures and illustrates how its beauty and uniqueness can enrich musical experience. Tucson audiences were so fortunate to hear the Tucson Symphony Orchestra play Grammy Award winning Tan Dun's Concerto for Guzheng and Orchestra with Xia Jing as special guest artist a week ago. In a wonderful coincidence, Xuefei Yang will play selections from his Seven Desires for solo guitar. Her program includes traditional and contemporary Chinese music, as well as music from Nikita Koshkin, Steven Goss, Leo Brouwer, Mark Houghton, Jiri Jirmal, and Carlo Domeniconi.

Xuefei Yang's fascinating journey began after the Cultural Revolution, a period when Western musical instruments and music were banned. Xuefei was the first-ever guitarist in China to enter a music school and became the first internationally recognized Chinese guitarist on the world stage. Her first public appearance was at the age of ten and received such acclaim that the Spanish Ambassador in China presented her with a concert guitar. Her debut in Madrid at the age of 14 was attended by the composer Joaquín Rodrigo, and when John Williams heard her play, he gave two of his own instruments to Beijing’s Central Conservatoire especially for her and other advanced students.

You can hear Tan Dun's Seven Desires here (part 1 of 7)

Xuefei Yang will play at 7 PM in Holsclaw Hall, University of Arizona School of Music. The venue is a 200 seat hall with open seating. It is a ticketed event ($35 general admission, $10 students), with no fees added for internet purchases. For more information and tickets, please see Guitar Society Website: TucsonGuitarSociety.org. There is also a masterclass on Friday, January 24 in Holsclaw Hall, from 2-5 PM, open to the public at no fee.