Major upcoming guqin events

Dear qin friends,

Here are some major upcoming guqin events for May:

1.     Forbidden City Museum qin exhibition

2.     International guqin masters' concert in Changshu

3.     Experiencing imperial life: Guqin masters concert series in Jingxinzhai

Forbidden City Museum qin exhibition

If by any chance you visit Beijing, China this May to October, don't forget visit the Forbidden City Museum qin exhibition. The exhibition will be held in the Zhai Palace at Forbidden City Museum.

This is a very rare opportunity to see such a large number of high quality antique qins. It will include 1200 year old Tang Dynasty qins as well as qins from the Song and other dynasties.

This year is the 80^th anniversary of the founding of the Forbidden City Museum. To celebrate, there will be 7 major events, including this guqin exhibition and a concert by famous guqin masters.

For more information, please visit the Forbidden City Museum's web site at http://www.dpm.org.cn/

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International guqin masters' concert in Changshu

Changshu city in Jiangsu, China is little known but is very important for the guqin. It is the birthplace of the Yushan school, an important qin school with 400 years of history. Famous qin masters Yan Tianchi, Xu Qingshan and Wu Jinglüe and others were born there. In 2004, the International Folk Artist Organization of UNESCO proclaimed Changshu the hometown of the guqin.

From April 20th to May 20th, 2005, Changshu will hold an international folk art festival. The closing event will be a guqin concert on May 20th, 2005. Famous guqin players from various schools including NAGA director Wang Fei, and consultants Li Xiangting and Gong Yi will perform for an audience of over 1000. This concert will be the biggest guqin event for 2005 so far. Many qin players and qin lovers will attend this  important gathering from throughout China and overseas.

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Experiencing imperial life: Guqin masters concert series in Jingxinzhai

Jingxin Zhai (Tranquillity Studio), located in Beihai Park  in central Beijing, is the oldest and best preserved royal garden in China. It has a history of 1000 years, and emperors including Qianlong used to play the qin there.

NAGA and 3 other organizations have sponsored a series of 10 qin concerts with the theme “ming jia ming yuan ming qin ming qu” (famous masters, finest gardens, ancient qins and greatest masterpieces). The concerts will be held in Jingxin Zhai (Tranquillity Studio) from this May. Well known qin masters will perform classic qin masterpieces on a 1200 year old Tang Dynasty qin that used to belong to the Imperial Palace. Each concert will take place in a different location, including the various pavilions and palaces in this beautiful garden. See the garden for yourself at http://www.beihaipark.com.cn/en/scene/north-2.htm.

The first concert will be held on May 14th. NAGA director Wang Fei and senior consultant Professor Li Xiangting will perform.

Attendance will be for VIPs by invitation only.

North American Guqin Association (NAGA)

http://www.guqin.org