MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Thousands of years of tradition will come together as Middle Tennessee State University hosts events showcasing ancient Chinese literature and music Thursday-Saturday, Oct. 3-5.
The MTSU Center for Chinese Music and Culture will host two concerts featuring Chinese sung poetry and an exhibition of rare scores from the second to the 19th century written in calligraphy.
“In over 3,000 years of history of Chinese music … poems were not written to be recited, but they were written to be sung,” explained center Director Mei Han, a professor in the MTSU School of Music.
Performances, presentations set
The three-day celebration will kick off at 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, with the opening of “A Time of Beauty: An Exhibition of Ancient Chinese Music, Painting and Calligraphy.” The exhibition, which will remain on display through Dec. 7, is housed in the center located in Miller Education Center, 503A E. Bell St., Suite 1600.
“They are written as calligraphy, like a scroll painting, so people can see what ancient scores were like in China,” Han said.
Over time, the scores and poetry separated. “Because there was no recording, we didn’t know what the ancient sounds were like,” Han explained.
Project coordinator and Shanghai Conservatory of Music Chinese musicologist Yang Sai — who has done extensive research and written numerous works about the history of Chinese literature and music — will give a presentation at the exhibit opening about the history of sung poetry and scores that will be on display.
“The Joy of Meeting: A Concert of Chinese Literati Poetry and Songs” will be performed at 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, in Hinton Hall located in Wright Music Building, 1439 Faulkinberry Drive on campus.
The free concert will feature an evening of Chinese literati poetry brought to life by a distinguished ensemble of college vocal professors from China, including Zhanxiu Li, Jing Deng, Jianhua Zhang, Menghan Chen, Peng Xie and Yang Yuan. Linxi Yang will serve as pianist.
MTSU School of Music visiting vocal scholar Jianhua Zhang will wrap up the series with a solo vocal concert of sung poetry, “Silk Washing Sand,” at Hinton Hall at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5. Using classical Chinese instruments, a group of musicians accompanying her include Mei Han, Peng Xie, Alessandra Volpi and the MTSU Chinese Music Ensemble.
“The songs in her concert of some of the original scores and the melodies are considered very close to the original melodies ranging from the 11th century to the 18th century,” Han said.
Performances and programs are free and open to the public. For more information, email Mei.Han@mtsu.edu orccmc@mtsu.edu. Learn more about the Chinese Center for Music and Culture by visiting http://mtsu.edu/chinesemusic/index.php.
About the center
The mission of the MTSU Center for Chinese Music and Culture is to engage regional, national, and global communities about rich and diverse musical and cultural traditions from China.
Located in a 3,200-square-foot space at MTSU’s Miller Education Center, the center is composed of a gallery of Chinese musical instruments, a library and archives and two classrooms.
CCMC also works with the MTSU School of Music to offer a credit course of Chinese Music Ensemble.
— Nancy DeGennaro (Nancy.Degennaro@mtsu.edu)
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