Great Chinese music (English)

Last week Thursday Xu Ping and I went to a concert of classical Chinese music. We were overwhelmed by the great performance of the four people band. The two stars of the ensemble are the 85 year old Lu Chunling (standing on the picture with his flute) and the 72 year old Li Yi (sitting, holding his banjo). Lu is a master of the bamboo flute. His instrument and virtuosity lead him to play in front of well known people as Queen Elizabeth II and Mao Zedong. The lively and lovely grandpa told the audience during the performance that he has been in the Netherlands 50 years ago, quite some things have changed since his first visit, when he was in his mid-30s. Li Yi is a recognized player of the Chinese banjo. Xu Fengxia (behind her citer on the picture) and Zhang Zhenfang were contributing to the great performance with their instruments, the citer and the erhu.


Below you can enjoy a solo-performance of Lu Chunling with his flute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRs1qrSLKLM

Triple Party (English)

While our guests are leaving, I am already typing the text. What a bad host I am. But actually I wasn't one of the hosts tonight.
Three hosts were enough already: Martijn and Zhaosha were celebrating their birthdays and Jaap was taking the chance to invite his friends to a housewarming party. So, three parties under one roof, in one apartment. We had a great time, with not a lot of music, but quite some nice talks and a great fire outside. Origianally was the plan to hold a barbecue, but this was impossible due to the bad weather. At least the fire was burning, as if it had been dry for the past days.
Enough of the writing, look at the pictures and enjoy: