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Friday, September 22, 2006 Connecting with a Musical Heritage Tonight I got a crash course in traditional Chinese music. Growing up in white, middle-class America, I never had much exposure to the music of my own culture--admittedly, Singaporeans in general seem somewhat removed from the arts--and this summer I became interested in integrating elements from Chinese music into my own. I'd spoken to Kerry Leung, a local multi-instrumentalist, about music on the phone a few weeks ago and he invited me to a concert that he organized tonight at the University of Chicago's International House--and I am so glad that I went. The concert was actually rather educational; Kerry played a number of Chinese flutes, violins, guitars, and a stringed instrument called the pipa that resembles a banjo in timbre, giving a little history on each. Another local musician, Yunqing Pan, played the guzheng, which is descended from the same instrument as the Japanese koto. I'm excited to finally be studying this music. So tonight was the official beginning of my Asian music project. I'm sure you'll hear the results not too far in the future. ^ Top | 11:16 PM | | | 
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