Lan Tung
Encyclopedia
Lan Tung is an erhu
performer, concert producer, administrator and composer playing a dynamic role in the Canadian music community . Originally from Taiwan
, she incorporates Chinese music with contemporary expressions in her works. At the same time, her strong interest in music outside her tradition has been a major drive in her artistic explorations. As the leader of the Juno Award
nominated Orchid Ensemble
, Tung has toured extensively in North America
, working with composers, musicians, dancers, visual and media artists of various cultural backgrounds.
Tung has been playing the erhu
for more than twenty years. She received her training at the Chinese Cultural University in Taiwan, where she has won numerous first prizes in national music competitions. She was a member of Taipei Youth Chinese Orchestra, and she has studied with Huang Ching-Ming, Chen Su-Feng and Lee Chun Tung in Taiwan, Ng K-B in Vancouver, the world-renowned American Chinese virtuoso Jebing Chen and the principal erhu player of the China Radio Orchestra Fun Ming Zhang.
Since moving to Canada
in 1994, Tung has premiered numerous contemporary compositions, including chamber, solo, orchestral and electro-acoustic works, by Canadian composers John Oliver
, Hope Lee, Moshe Denburg, Mark Armanini, Jin Zhang, Janet Danielson, Michael Vincent, Neil Weisensel, Paul Plimley
, Ya-Wen V. Wang, Farshid Samandari, Grace Lee, and Michael John. Her fascination for creative improvisation has driven her to perform with a number of Vancouver’s most innovative improvisers, including Coat Cooke, Ron Samworth, and the Crossing Borders Ensemble. Tung recently completed an intensive course at the Vancouver Creative Music Institute, where she studied and performed with Han Bennink
(Holland) and John Butcher
(UK).
Tung has been studying with Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath
in Bombay since 2004. She has also studied with improviser and contemporary violinist Mary Oliver in Amsterdam
and with Egyptian violinist Dr. Alfred Gamil in Cairo
.
Tung is active in a number of cross-cultural musical projects. In Egypt, she joined qanoun player Hossan Shaker and his band Rahala in concerts. In Canada
, she has collaborated with Persian santur
player Alan Kushan, Hindustani sitar
player James Hamilton, Carnatic
singer Vidyasagar Vankayala, Vietnamese group Khac Chi Ensemble, Multi-instrumentalist Randy Raine-Reusch, Klezmer
woodwind player Mike Braverman, African drummer Mandido Morris, Mozaico Flamenco Dance Theatre, Uzume Taiko, and Celtic
band Mad Pudding. She has appeared on festival stages as a guest with the Tuvan
ensemble Huun-Huur-Tu
, UK’s premiere African/World Music band Baka Beyond
, and Canadian folk legend Bill Bourne
. Tung performs with the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and currently serves on its board as the vice president. Since 2003, she has been performing with Tandava
, moving one more step further to fuse with Indian and Central Asian traditions.
In 1997, Tung founded the Orchid Ensemble
. With a unique instrumentation of erhu
, zheng
, and percussion, including the western concert marimba
, the ensemble combines musical traditions from China
and beyond, creating a distinct new sound. Its unique instrumentation has been Tung’s major vehicle in music writing. Her rearranged Chinese melodies act as bridges to connect Chinese music with western ears, and she is always experimenting with new ideas from her international travels and studies to expand her musical vocabulary. The ensemble’s repertoire ranges from traditional and contemporary music of China, World Music
, New Music
to Creative Improvisation.
Tung gives close to one hundred performances and presentations internationally every year, including music festivals, community concerts, school demonstrations, lectures, and university/college residencies. US appearances included Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution
, Detroit Institute of the Arts and at Bena Roya Hall for the Seattle Symphony
Society. National performances included Ottawa’s Canada Day
Celebrations, Harbourfront Centre
, Toronto
Street Fest, The Music Gallery, Royal Conservatory of Music
, Vancouver Jazz, Folk and Children’s festivals, Canada National Arts Gallery, National Library of Canada, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Ottawa Bluefest, Halifax’s JazzEast, Sunfest
, Montreal’s Centre Pierre Peladeau and Chapelle Historique du Bon Pasteur.
Tung has recorded at numerous broadcast performances for CBC
(“Canada Now”, “The World In Performance”, “Westcoast Performance”, “This Morning”, “Global Village” and “North by Northwest”), Radio Canada, BBC, and CBC TV (“Zed TV” and “Newsworld”) and appeared as a guest artist on various CDs.
Erhu
The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
performer, concert producer, administrator and composer playing a dynamic role in the Canadian music community . Originally from Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, she incorporates Chinese music with contemporary expressions in her works. At the same time, her strong interest in music outside her tradition has been a major drive in her artistic explorations. As the leader of the Juno Award
Juno Award
The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...
nominated Orchid Ensemble
Orchid Ensemble
The Orchid Ensemble is a musical ensemble based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Its led by Lan Tung from Taiwan on erhu, with Haiqiong Deng from China on guzheng and Jonathan Bernard from Canada on various percussion instruments...
, Tung has toured extensively in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, working with composers, musicians, dancers, visual and media artists of various cultural backgrounds.
Tung has been playing the erhu
Erhu
The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
for more than twenty years. She received her training at the Chinese Cultural University in Taiwan, where she has won numerous first prizes in national music competitions. She was a member of Taipei Youth Chinese Orchestra, and she has studied with Huang Ching-Ming, Chen Su-Feng and Lee Chun Tung in Taiwan, Ng K-B in Vancouver, the world-renowned American Chinese virtuoso Jebing Chen and the principal erhu player of the China Radio Orchestra Fun Ming Zhang.
Since moving to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1994, Tung has premiered numerous contemporary compositions, including chamber, solo, orchestral and electro-acoustic works, by Canadian composers John Oliver
John Oliver (composer)
John Oliver is a Canadian composer, guitarist, and conductor. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community, his music has been performed throughout North America and Europe...
, Hope Lee, Moshe Denburg, Mark Armanini, Jin Zhang, Janet Danielson, Michael Vincent, Neil Weisensel, Paul Plimley
Paul Plimley
Paul Plimley is a free jazz pianist and vibraphonist. He is one of the doyens of the Canadian jazz avant-garde, a co-founder of the New Orchestra Workshop Society and frequent collaborator with the bassist Lisle Ellis...
, Ya-Wen V. Wang, Farshid Samandari, Grace Lee, and Michael John. Her fascination for creative improvisation has driven her to perform with a number of Vancouver’s most innovative improvisers, including Coat Cooke, Ron Samworth, and the Crossing Borders Ensemble. Tung recently completed an intensive course at the Vancouver Creative Music Institute, where she studied and performed with Han Bennink
Han Bennink
Han Bennink is a Dutch jazz drummer and percussionist. On occasion his recordings have featured his playing on clarinet, violin, banjo and piano....
(Holland) and John Butcher
John Butcher (musician)
John Butcher is an English tenor and soprano saxophone player who has lived in London since the late 1970s. He began playing at the University of Surrey where he was studying physics...
(UK).
Tung has been studying with Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath
Kala Ramnath
Kala Ramnath , is an Indian violinist. She belongs to the Mewati gharana. She was awarded the Jasraj award in 1999.-Early life:...
in Bombay since 2004. She has also studied with improviser and contemporary violinist Mary Oliver in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
and with Egyptian violinist Dr. Alfred Gamil in Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
.
Tung is active in a number of cross-cultural musical projects. In Egypt, she joined qanoun player Hossan Shaker and his band Rahala in concerts. In Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, she has collaborated with Persian santur
Santur
The santur is a Persian hammered dulcimerIt is a trapezoid-shaped box often made of walnut or different exotic woods. The Persian classical santur has 72 strings. The name santur was first referenced in ancient Persian poetry...
player Alan Kushan, Hindustani sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
player James Hamilton, Carnatic
Carnatic music
Carnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
singer Vidyasagar Vankayala, Vietnamese group Khac Chi Ensemble, Multi-instrumentalist Randy Raine-Reusch, Klezmer
Klezmer
Klezmer is a musical tradition of the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe. Played by professional musicians called klezmorim, the genre originally consisted largely of dance tunes and instrumental display pieces for weddings and other celebrations...
woodwind player Mike Braverman, African drummer Mandido Morris, Mozaico Flamenco Dance Theatre, Uzume Taiko, and Celtic
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
band Mad Pudding. She has appeared on festival stages as a guest with the Tuvan
Tuvans
Tuvans or Tuvinians are Turkic peoples living in southern Siberia. They are historically known as one of the Uriankhai, from the Mongolian designation...
ensemble Huun-Huur-Tu
Huun-Huur-Tu
Huun-Huur-Tu is a music group from Tuva, a Russian Federation republic situated on the Mongolian border....
, UK’s premiere African/World Music band Baka Beyond
Baka Beyond
Baka Beyond is a world music group formed in 1992 with members from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures, fusing Celtic and other western music styles with traditional Baka music from Cameroon.-Biography:...
, and Canadian folk legend Bill Bourne
Bill Bourne
Bill Bourne is a Canadian musician and songwriter, who frequently collaborates with a variety of artists, including Alan MacLeod, Shannon Johnson, Lester Quitzau, Madagascar Slim, Aysha Wills, Eivør Pálsdóttir, Wyckham Porteous and Jasmine 'Jas' Ohlhauser.Raised in a musical family in rural...
. Tung performs with the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra and currently serves on its board as the vice president. Since 2003, she has been performing with Tandava
Tandava
' or ', the divine art form, is a dance performed by the god Shiva, who is revered by Hindus. According to Hindu mythology, Shiva’s Tandava is a vigorous dance that is the source of the cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution...
, moving one more step further to fuse with Indian and Central Asian traditions.
In 1997, Tung founded the Orchid Ensemble
Orchid Ensemble
The Orchid Ensemble is a musical ensemble based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Its led by Lan Tung from Taiwan on erhu, with Haiqiong Deng from China on guzheng and Jonathan Bernard from Canada on various percussion instruments...
. With a unique instrumentation of erhu
Erhu
The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
, zheng
Zheng
Zheng may refer to:*Zheng , an ancient state in China*Zheng , 鄭 or 郑, a Chinese surname*Zheng County, former name of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, China*Guzheng , a Chinese zither with bridges...
, and percussion, including the western concert marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
, the ensemble combines musical traditions from China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and beyond, creating a distinct new sound. Its unique instrumentation has been Tung’s major vehicle in music writing. Her rearranged Chinese melodies act as bridges to connect Chinese music with western ears, and she is always experimenting with new ideas from her international travels and studies to expand her musical vocabulary. The ensemble’s repertoire ranges from traditional and contemporary music of China, World Music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, New Music
Contemporary classical music
Contemporary classical music can be understood as belonging to the period that started in the mid-1970s with the retreat of modernism. However, the term may also be employed in a broader sense to refer to all post-1945 modern musical forms.-Categorization:...
to Creative Improvisation.
Tung gives close to one hundred performances and presentations internationally every year, including music festivals, community concerts, school demonstrations, lectures, and university/college residencies. US appearances included Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
, Detroit Institute of the Arts and at Bena Roya Hall for the Seattle Symphony
Seattle Symphony
The Seattle Symphony is an American orchestra based in Seattle, Washington. Since 1998, the orchestra is resident at Benaroya Hall. The orchestra's season runs from September through July, and serves as the pit orchestra for most productions of the Seattle Opera in addition to its own concerts...
Society. National performances included Ottawa’s Canada Day
Canada Day
Canada Day , formerly Dominion Day , is the national day of Canada, a federal statutory holiday celebrating the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the British North America Act , which united three British colonies into a single country, called Canada, within the British Empire...
Celebrations, Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre
Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on Toronto, Ontario's waterfront, situated at 235 Queen's Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the federal government to create a waterfront park, it became a non-profit organization in 1991. Funding comes from corporate...
, Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
Street Fest, The Music Gallery, Royal Conservatory of Music
Royal Conservatory of Music
The Royal Conservatory of Music is a music school and performance venue in Toronto, Canada. Other uses of the term include:*The Madrid Royal Conservatory, Spain*The Royal Academy of Music, London, United Kingdom...
, Vancouver Jazz, Folk and Children’s festivals, Canada National Arts Gallery, National Library of Canada, Ottawa Jazz Festival, Ottawa Bluefest, Halifax’s JazzEast, Sunfest
Sunfest (London, Ontario)
Sunfest is an annual Canadian world music music festival that happens in London, Ontario, Canada, primarily in Victoria Park that typically runs the weekend after Canada Day. It is the second-largest music festival in Canada after Caribana in Toronto. Alfredo Caxaj, who emigrated from Guatemala...
, Montreal’s Centre Pierre Peladeau and Chapelle Historique du Bon Pasteur.
Tung has recorded at numerous broadcast performances for CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
(“Canada Now”, “The World In Performance”, “Westcoast Performance”, “This Morning”, “Global Village” and “North by Northwest”), Radio Canada, BBC, and CBC TV (“Zed TV” and “Newsworld”) and appeared as a guest artist on various CDs.