© The London Youlan Qin Society 2003-2010



Meeting 14 January 2023



Introduction

This, our New Year yaji and the 121st meeting of the London Youlan Qin Society, was held in person at SOAS, as well as online over Zoom. It was preceded by the Annual General Meeting.

The yaji began at 1 pm UK time and ended at approximately 3:30 pm. Cheng Yu introduced the yaji and welcomed everybody. Charles Tsua was MC, and Viola Qiu handled the technical side for online attendees.

Summary of AGM

The past year was a positive and fruitful year for us.We held 6 yajis. Our yajis in January and March were online, but from May onwards we held hybrid yajis, both online and in person. One of them was held at Goldsmiths College during our summer school, at which many new qin players joined our society. Some of our players played at the WOMAD Festival; we were the only Chinese performers in the Festival. We gave two charitable concerts, in April and at Christmas, to raise funds for the NHS and Engage with China at the Holy Sepulchre Church in Holborn. As a result of these concerts, videos of our performances on YouTube had 211000 visits just a few months. We were also pleased to perform at Queen Elizabeth II’s 70th Jubilee celebration in June. We played in the MAG early music festival in Grenada, Spain, and gave concerts and workshops in Turin in Italy. Cheng Yu played a solo guqin concert in Luxembourg, sharing the stage with the orchestra and the composer Tan Dun.

We taught three terms of guqin courses, which many people joined both online and in person. We continued to teach the Cambridge guqin classes for a 3rd year. The Cambridge guqin players can now give performances for Chinese cultural events. One of the groups we have been teaching for 2 ½ years is the North of England Chinese Cultural Centre’s pipa group, mainly children. They have given several performances at BBC Shrewsbury Radio and Birmingham University; next Sunday, they will share the stage with us and play at Trafalgar Square.

Another highlight was our 20th Chinese music summer school at Goldsmiths College. Not only did we get Arts Council England funding for this project, we also expanded it to include East Asian music and musicians, such as the zhanggu and shakuhachi. Our social media platforms have been very active, attracting more and more people to our Instagram, FaceBook and WeChat platforms and our YouTube channel. Please visit us, we regularly upload interesting things.

We are planning two ambitious projects for 2023: the second International Guqin Festival will be in August. we will also introduce grading exams in partnership with the China National Music Orchestra Association and SOAS.

Membership has increased significantly, and the society's finances remain healthy.

Programme

  1. Welcome Speech 欢迎词 – Cheng Yu (LYQS President)
  2. Xiari Weifeng 夏日微風 (Summer Breeze) – Stephen Dydo (USA) [ONLINE]
  3. Shan Ju Yin 山居吟 (Living in the Mountains) – Julian Joseph [ONLINE]
  4. Wo Long Yin 卧龙吟 (The Sleeping Dragon) – Pavlos Triantaris
  5. Zou Shou Zhi Yue 左手指月 (Upwards to the Moon) – Jing Wang
  6. Dao Qing Diao (A Daoist Ballad), pipa solo – Wu Yunxia [ONLINE]
  7. ??? ???, （），erhu solo- ???
  8. Ping Sha Luo Yan 平沙落雁 (Wild Geese Descending on the Sandbank) - Yang Fulin
  9. Qiu Jiang Ye Bo 秋江夜泊 (Mooring on a River on an Autumn Night) - Zino Jiaqi Zhang
  10. Bi Jian Liu Quan 碧涧流泉 (A Stream Flowing in a Green Valley) – Jane Ling
  11. Jiu Kuang 酒狂 (Drunken Ecstasy) – Jia Ying
  12. Wo Long Yin 卧龙吟 (The Sleeping Dragon) – Patrizia Brown
  13. Liu Shui 流水 (Flowing Water) – Charles Tsua
  14. Xiao Xiang Shui Yun 潇湘水运 (Mist and Clouds over the Xiao and Xiang Rivers) – Jenny Zhao
  15. Chun Feng 春风 (Spring Breeze) - Zino Jiaqi Zhang
  16. Han Tian Lei 旱天雷（Thunder in Dry Weather), pipa solo - Ivan Bachelor
  17. Guanshan Yue 关山月 (Moon over the Mountain Pass）- ???
  18. Meihua San Nong 梅花三弄 (Three Variations on the Plum Blossom）- Cheng Yu




The London Youlan Qin Society would like to thank the Department of Music at SOAS for allowing us to hold our meeting there.