Yesterday, I sent a text message to Xu Ning. He is a music reporter, and got me a free ticket to go see a couple of concerts before Christmas. He is a graduate of the China Conservatory of Music, where his instrument was Dizi. (Do Chinese ensembles always start with Dizi and Erhu?) Previously, we had talked about getting together to play some music, so now that we are back, and my big concert is behind me, I thought I’d see what he was up to.
Luckily, he doesn’t leave to go back to his hometown until Friday. He asked if tonight would be fine. So after work, Ma Yan and I picked him up at the subway stop near his apartment, which is relatively close to the China Conservatory of Music. (I love living in this part of town.)
He came over and had some dinner with us and then we sat down to play through some music. While at work earlier, I printed out the parts for dizi, erhu, and yangqin (just in case) for some pieces that Summer Thunder has been playing. I brought Huan Le Ge, Yu Fu Rong, Su Di Man Bu, Gu Xiang Xing, and Yi Zhi Mei. I picked out Yi Zhi Mei especially because I know how much Paul really loves playing it. (I’ve always thought it must be like catnip for dizi players.)
We spent about an hour playing through the pieces, with him pretty much sight reading everything. He was saying that most of the ensemble work from school was with the standard pieces, such as Bu Bu Gao, Cai Yun Zhui Yue, Xi Yang Yang, Jin She Kuang Wu, and Zi Zhu Diao. He has never played or heard the pieces I brought, other than Huan Le Ge. I told him that the standards are nice, but it is fun to play some more musically interesting pieces sometimes too. (I hadn’t really realized how interesting Yi Zhi Mei really is until playing only the dizi and erhu.)
It was great playing again, and he said he’ll try to find some more people to put together an ensemble. Also, he said he’ll get in touch with a friend of his, who is the Ensemble director at the China Conservatory of Music Middle School, and see what other music he can find. I’d love to get my hands on some new music. (Must have ALL the Musics!)



























