Wu Fei's Music Daily

This piece was created and recorded yesterday on guzheng. I used mostly harmonics of the strings. Two days ago, Nashville experienced a day of severely strong wind. I was scared while I was driving my children from school to home in the wind. Every second, I worried my car being blown over by the wind. Luckily, we got home safely. However, more than 120,000 residents lost power for hours if not a...

《春晓》 “春眠不觉晓，处处闻啼鸟。夜来风雨声， 花落知多少。-” 孟浩然 ( 689 - 740), 唐代山水田园派诗人 “Soundly sleeping in the spring, I didn’t realize the dawn. Till the birds broke out in song everywhere. Last night, in the clamor of wind and rain. How many flowers have fallen, would you suppose? ”- Meng Haoran (689 A.D. - 740 A.D.) Chinese poet from the Tang Dynasty. Meng Haoran was a major inf...

Dear listeners, Twenty fours hours ago, I returned home from a week of concert residency with the Bellingham Symphony Orchestra in Washington state. It was a wonderful week rehearsing and delivering two successful concerts last weekend in Bellingham. I have attached some photos from this trip (see below). Wish I had photos from the concert. I was too busy playing on stage :) Bellingham is a beauti...

I composed this guzheng piece yesterday inspired by the first millipede I saw this year. There is an old idiom in Chinese 千里之行, 始于足下. It means “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Thank you all for your generous support from all over the world! This daily music project has changed my life in a significant and profound way. Everyday I get in a zone (when I’m home, not...

Friends in Washington state, I'm so excited to perform with Bellingham Symphony next week! Bellingham Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, 2/26, presents its 8th Harmony from Discord concert, featuring contemporary composer Wu Fei's Hello Gold Mountain. I am thrilled to be working with maestro Yaniv Attar ! Info and tickets are here . Hope to see you there! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.comTwitter @wufeiInstagr...

What an amazing concert residency I had last week Zoellner Arts Center at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I am humbled to receive standing ovations from the audience for my symphony premiere of Hello Gold Mountain. What an honor to be called a “triple threat” artist by maestro Paul Salerni of Lehigh University Philharmonic! I’m now an honorary member or Lehigh Orchestra. Thank you fo...

I created and recorded this piece on sanxian 三弦 (means 3 strings) and guzheng, both performed by me. Besides plucking the sanxian, I also played the resonator as a drum. The membrane is made out of snake skin. You can go to this page to read more about the sanxian. Hope this piece brings you fun energy into your weekend! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.comTwitter @wufeiInstagram @wufeimusicYouTube @wufei...

I had a fun hike in the forest encountering the first toad of the year (photo below). When I got home, I immediately created and recorded this multitrack on prepared guzheng (strings muted by a beach cloth). Hope it brings you a moment of joy in the early spring! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.comTwitter @wufeiInstagram @wufeimusicYouTube @wufeimusic This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this...

This piece was created and recorded on multitrack guzheng to welcome the lunar new year of the rabbit, which starts on January 22 this year. Chinese Astrology also incorporates the five elements: Water, Metal, Wood, Earth, and Fire. The zodiac moves through a different element each year. 2023 will be the Year of the Water Rabbit. Because the Yin Water element is associated with the color black, so...

It has been raining in Nashville. The rain inspired me to warm up my fingers on double guzheng. My left hand played a 3-finger rotating technique when my right hand played the long tremolos. The two guzhengs were tuned slightly different. That is how I hear the rain — sometimes the rain drops emerge into one pitch, some time the pitch split into hundreds of different pitches depending on the inten...

This 3-track guzheng piece was created and recorded yesterday after I saw these golden fungi in the forest. They are called Neofavolus alveolaris. It is a species of polypore fungus in the family Polyporaceae. According to Wikipedia, it is widely distributed in the temperate areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Its kidney- or fan-shaped fruit bodies measure 1–8 cm (0.4–3.1 in) in diameter. Initially...

Dear all, I am excited to share this piece that I composed and recorded on multitrack guzheng yesterday. I will be flying to Washington D.C. to play my last concert of 2022 when you receive this newsletter. The concert will be held at The National Gallery of Art, West Garden Court at 3pm EST on December 18, 2022. Concert info is here . After this concert, I will be traveling to New Zealand to be w...

This multitrack guzheng etude was composed and recorded yesterday by me. I was inspired by the pink snowberry (photo below) I encountered in the forest while hiking two days ago. According to Wikipedia, snowberry is a resilient plant able to withstand a variety of conditions. Snowberry plants are most commonly found in forests, dry or moist openings, rocky hillsides or near riverbanks and streams....

I am excited to share a podcast interview I did with CapRadio host Majel Connery. It is the most in-depth interview I have ever done talking about my life, childhood, drive and determination needed to succeed as a woman in the classical music industry. It is an honor for me to be featured on this new NPR series with five amazing women composers — Sarah Kirkland Snider, Nathalie Joachim, Angelica N...

This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday. After a very dry year in Nashville, the creek had water again after a whole night of rain (photo below). I wish it would rain much longer so the creek would be full enough to have water falls back. I miss the sound of water falls. It is calming and cleansing my dear drums and brain. Later in the day, I learned that without air, humans would s...

Happy Friday everyone! I composed and recorded this multitrack guzheng piece yesterday, inspired by this moment when I gazed at a window from my home. I said to myself if my home was an envelope, this sight would make a perfect stamp. Hope it brings you a moment of energy into your weekend! Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.comTwitter @wufeiInstagram @wufeimusicYouTube @wufeimusic This is a public episode. I...

This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday. I was thinking about the people who have been protesting on the streets all over China against the zero Covid lockdown during my thanksgiving weekend in my peaceful west Nashville home. It has been a heart breaking weekend as I could not ignore what was happening to my birth city and country. As the world has been returning to normal, I have...

Happy thanksgiving to you all who celebrate this holiday! Wish you a peaceful long weekend with friends and family if you are with them. I will return to my daily post next Monday. This guzheng piece was created and recorded yesterday when I thought of the time I spent in Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage site in Essen, Germany earlier this month. The giant chimney was quite amazing to look up from...

I had a lovely time playing a concert in Gent, Belgium two weeks ago. The city was as fascinating as I remember when I played there in 2009. I felt like I was in a fairy tale world again surrounded by castles and dreamy lights. The lights (photo below) were from the dinner I had at Ha Concerts where I played later that night. This guzheng etude was composed and recorded yesterday inspired by the l...

The hills of Bellevue in west Nashville were covered by frost flowers this morning (photo below). A frost flower or ice flower is formed when thin layers of ice are extruded from long-stemmed plants in autumn or early winter. The thin layers of ice are often formed into exquisite patterns that curl into "petals" that resemble flowers. Once again, I was amazed by the magic of nature. How can I not...

Dear all, I have returned home in Nashville from a wonderful 2-week tour in Europe and Midwest U.S.A.. It has been a non-stop traveling on planes, taxis, trains, bus, touring van etc.. I got to see old friends in Germany and Belgium. I made new friends in Chicago and Des Moines. How grateful I am for my family being loving and supportive of me so I get to play music all over the world! Hope this n...

Dear all, Hope you are enjoying a wonderful fall or spring season! I recorded this improvisation yesterday from my home studio in the sunny Nashville, Tennessee. In contrast, I was thinking about some of the music I knew that was created during war time inspired by a conversation with a dear friend recently. As my departure to Europe approaching, I would like to share the a few concert dates I hav...

Friends in Essen, Germany & Ghent, Belgium, I’m excited head your way soon in early November to record new music/play with: - Fred Frith 🇬🇧 - Susana Santos Silva (trumpet 🇵🇹) - Anantha Krishnan (mridangam, tabla 🇮🇳) - Marque Gilmore (drums, electronics 🇸🇪) Concert info (🇩🇪) : https://www.zollverein.de/kalender/fred-frith-friends-clearing-customs English translation: Concert as part of the festival...

Yesterday, a dear friend brought me a gorgeous instrument called Rubab (photo below). It was shipped from Afghanistan to the U.S. a few weeks ago. It bitter-sweet so see such a treasure leaving its homeland,. However, it was hidden by a music maker to escape the chaotic and unpredictable future. I fell in love with the instrument and wrote this piece on guzheng inspired by rubab’ s beauty and hist...

This solo night song was created and recorded yesterday. After a few busy days looking after family members, I needed a calm tune to retune myself into the weekend. If you or your friends are in/around Oxford, Mississippi area on Saturday evening, I am giving a solo concert + Q A at Water Valley. You can find more details here . Thanks to Becca Finley for putting the show together. Becca is the co...