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When Min Xiao-Fen and her husband left New York City and resettled in Western North Carolina in 2020, they may have been expecting a slower pace of life. But that\u2019s not how events have unfolded for the celebrated composer and multi-instrumentalist.<\/p>\n
Min Xiao-Fen came of age in China, where she was a member of the Nanjing National Music Orchestra for more than a decade. She toured the world, performing as a soloist on the pipa, an ancient lute-like stringed instrument. After emigrating to the United States, she settled in San Francisco before moving to New York. Along the way, Min collaborated with a who\u2019s-who of musicians from the contemporary classical, avant garde and art-pop worlds, including work with Bj\u00f6rk, John Zorn and Derek Bailey.<\/p>\n
To date she has released several albums, including her intriguing 2017 recording Mao, Monk and Me<\/i> in which she re-interprets the music of jazz great Thelonious Monk using traditional Chinese instrumentation. In March, Min traveled to Cologne, Germany, taking part in her Min\/Wu\/Xu project with German-based musicians Wi Wei and Xu Fengia; the trio presented an original work, \u201cFive Elements,\u201d at the Cologne Philharmonie.<\/p>\n
Her most recent release, White Lotus<\/i> is Min\u2019s original soundtrack to The Goddess<\/i>, a 1934 silent film from the golden age of Chinese cinema. Accompanied by guitarist and Guggenheim fellow Rez Abassi, Min played the pipa and other Chinese instruments, adding vocals as well.<\/p>\n
Live performances of White Lotus<\/i> feature Min and Abassi playing the music while the nearly century-old images flicker on a large screen behind them. The popularity of those unique concerts caught the attention of the prestigious Lincoln Center; earlier this year, the two musicians traveled to New York City, mounting 16 performances at the celebrated venue. \u201cAfter the concert,\u201d Min says, \u201cI was interviewed on stage, and we were able to share the experience with the audience.\u201d Additional performances of the work are scheduled in cities across the U.S. and abroad into 2024.<\/p>\n
Energized by the experience of composing and performing White Lotus<\/i>, Min undertook new creative projects in a similar vein. Commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution, she wrote new original scores for two more film classics. The first was Romance of the Fruit Peddler<\/i> from 1922, notable as the first Chinese silent film. The second film, Romance of the Western Chamber<\/i> premiered in 1927. Min says that while the music she wrote for both films is composed, \u201ca lot of it \u2013 maybe 50 percent \u2013 is improvised.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working with Asheville-based percussionist River Guerguerian, Min\u2019s approach for this latest project is very much an interactive, engaged and engaging experience. Min thinks of the performances as a trio: her, Guerguerian, and the films themselves. \u201cWe use our music to give voice to the films,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n
And sometimes that voice is silent. \u201cSometimes, right before something big happens [onscreen],\u201d I make a little silence there,\u201d Min says. \u201cThe film takes a solo.\u201d Other times, only Guerguerian plays. \u201cIt\u2019s like a conversation,\u201d Min says. \u201cWe inspire each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
After those bravura concerts for the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., Min returned home to Western North Carolina, where she scheduled a local performance of the works at the Black Mountain College + Museum Arts Center on June 22.<\/p>\n
And on July 5-6, Min was a featured artist as part of the \u201cBeyond Fusion\u201d presentation at Brevard Music Center. She performed several pieces, including solo performances from Mao, Monk and Me<\/i>. Min was<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> also joined a string quartet for a reading of Daniel Schnyder\u2019s \u201cCairo.\u201d Min has worked with Schnyder before. \u201cHe wrote a pipa concerto that I premiered in 2016 with the PostClassical Ensemble in Washington, D.C.,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Min says that unlike that concerto, Schnyder\u2019s \u201cCairo\u201d was written for soprano saxophone and string quartet. \u201cBut I saw the score and listened to it,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd I realized, \u2018That\u2019s for pipa; it\u2019s no problem!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Composer-saxophonist Schnyder was<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> also part of the program along with bass trombonist David Taylor. The evening was<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> curated by cultural historian Joseph Horowitz. The day after that concert, Min took<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> part in a workshop at BMC. She was<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> prepared to answer questions like, \u201cWhat\u2019s behind your idea to play Monk\u2019s music?\u201d<\/p>\n T<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>he \u201cBeyond Fusion\u201d program introduced Min to the Brevard Music Center audience; in between her full schedule of globe-trotting engagements, she will return to BMC on November 9 to reprise the Smithsonian-commissioned \u201ctrio\u201d pieces with River Guerguerian. \u201cThey tell me this will be the first time they\u2019ve ever presented a movie soundtrack,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n More on Min here<\/a> and here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Min Xiao-Fen and her husband left New York City and resettled in Western North Carolina in 2020, they may have been expecting a slower pace of life. But that\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,41,44,76],"tags":[4556],"class_list":["post-25768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avant-garde","category-interview","category-live-shows","category-world","tag-min-xiao-fen","cat-7-id","cat-41-id","cat-44-id","cat-76-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25768","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25768"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25768\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25770,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25768\/revisions\/25770"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25769"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25768"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25768"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25768"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}