Wu Fei's Music Daily

Hi everyone, I just recorded this solo guzheng improvisation today. It is a nostalgic season for me. So I wrote down one of my favorite poems written by Wang We i 王維 (699 - 761 A.D.) of the Tang Dynasty (photo below). The English translation is: In the southern lands grow love peas,With spring new branches vegetate well. You may pick some more their red beans,For my ardent yearning they can best...

Hi everyone, Yesterday, I went to the park for a walk. A big red-spotted purple butterfly landed in front of me on the trail. It was surprisingly brave not flying away when I stepped closer. It was flapping its gorgeous wings for about a minute as if it was waiting for me to take photos. I had to accept the invitation :) Three older ladies walked by and saw my moment with the butterfly. I told the...

Hi everyone, This three-track guzheng composition was composed and recorded yesterday inspired by the gorgeous sunset we had in Nashville two days ago (photo below). I was picking wild blackberries with my children in the forest after dinner. The white bowl I was holding to put the blackberries in turned orange. I looked up and saw the sky was on fire. We were stunned by this scene. Hope this piec...

Hi everyone, I recorded this guzheng improvisation yesterday during a thunder storm. The piece starts with the sound of the pouring rain outside of my home studio in Nashville. A few thunder strikes also made it to the track. I ended the piece with the fading rain. Hope this track brings you strong and soothing energy altogether. Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.com | hellogoldmountain.com | wufeimusic.subs...

Hi everyone, I composed and recorded this three-track guzheng étude yesterday to celebrate my 1000th episode of Wu Fei’s Music Daily. I launched it on May 3, 2020 during the pandemic. It has been amazing journey for me to grow my subscriber group and to connect to the whole world every day. Thank you for being here and supporting me. This is the beginning of the next one thousand! Meanwhile, I wou...

Hi everyone, This morning’s guzheng song was recorded yesterday, named after the American bellflower (photo below). During a hike in Edwin Warner Park in Nashville, I saw many American bellflowers along the hiking trails. The bellflower is an annual or biennial native wildflower that likes wet and humid places in shady areas of eastern North America. The bellflower is a pollinator magnet: many spe...

Hi everyone, This upbeat étude was recorded yesterday on two-track guzheng. I spotted a big wild turkey’s feather on my hike in west Nashville. It looked very firm and fresh (photo below). I wondered if there had a fight in the middle of the forest among two wild turkeys. I often see wild turkeys near my home. They used to fly away as soon as they heard me. The last two days, I saw two turkeys wal...

Hi everyone, Today is the Dragon Boat Festival (Duanwu Jie in Chinese: 端午節). The holiday which falls on the fifth day of the fifth month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar. There are several stories about the origins of the festival, but the most widely-told is that it commemorates Qu Yuan 屈原, a patriotic poet and minister of the kingdom of Chu during the Warring States period (475-221 BCE). Q...

Hi everyone, This solo guzheng night song was recorded yesterday. It was an improvisation inspired by the silverleaf hydrangea (photo below). It is blossoming all over the forest along the creek side near my home in Nashville. You can hear the birds’ constant chirping in the recording. Silver hydrangea is native to the mountainous region (usually above 2,000 feet elevation) in the southern Blue Ri...

Hi everyone, This three-track guzheng composition was created and recorded yesterday. This last week, I had a wonderful time visiting family in Austin, Texas. One of the places we went to for dinner was next to a river. People fed turtles while they waited for their tables to be ready (photo below). It was a lovely experience for me. Hope this piece brings you a moment of joy. Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimus...

Hi everyone, This two-track guzheng étude was created and recorded yesterday inspired by a bright red dewberry I saw during my morning hike on the west Nashville hills. After a speedy hike in the deep green lush forest full of spider webs, this dewberry caught my attention. It was sticking out of the low bush where I would walk by everyday. It was so red that I had to take a closer look (photo bel...

Hi everyone, I just composed and recorded this two-track guzheng piece an hour ago, inspired by a beautiful Luna moth in my front porch this morning (photo below). It is also called the American moon moth, or the giant silk moths. The moth has lime-green wings and a white body. Its caterpillars are also green. Its typical wingspan is roughly 114 mm (4.5 in), but wingspans can exceed 178 mm (7.0 in...

Hi everyone, What an honor to be speaking on the Nashville Composers Panel with three of my heroes: Jeff Coffin (saxophonist of Dave Matthews Band), banjoist Béla Fleck and double bassist Edgar Meyer , moderated by Ryan Middagh (director of Jazz Studies at Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University) as part of the International Society of Jazz Arrangers and Composers Symposium 2024. There will...

Hi everyone, I recorded this vocal and guzheng improvisation yesterday with the memory of a beautiful gift I received during my artist-in-residence in Joshua Tree last month. I played for four public elementary schools during their assemblies. It was such a heart-moving experience for me to bring music to these kids. Many of them had never seen live concerts before. We had so much fun singing toge...

Hi everyone, This two-track guzheng composition was created and recorded yesterday, inspired by the gorgeous aurora on top of Christchurch in New Zealand (photo below). The photo was sent from my sister-in-law from New Zealand when we were celebrating Mother’s Day to each other. The entire piece was primarily played on harmonics of the open strings. Hope it brings you a moment of peace to begin th...

Hi everyone, I recorded this solo vocal and guzheng improvisation yesterday, a sequel to the previous piece #973 —Sunrise song 高漠日出 . I was stunned by all the rocks in Joshua Tree National Park in California two weeks ago. One type of the rocks is called Penguin rock (photo below). Hope this piece brings you a moment joy into your weekend. Wu Fei 吴非 Wufeimusic.com | hellogoldmountain.com | w...

Hi everyone, This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday after I took a walk in the forest near my home in Nashville and saw a bunch of cicadas (photo below). They must be members of Brood XIX, or Brood 19. In 1898, entomologist Charles Lester Marlatt assigned Roman numerals to 30 different broods of cicadas that come out of hibernation periodically to graze and mate and make a noise. S...

Hi everyone, Buddha beebalm is a two-track guzheng composition. I wrote and recorded the piece yesterday inspired by the eastern beebalm flower that is blossoming in the forest near my home in Nashville (photo below). The plant is native to the central and southeastern United States. The flowers of eastern beebalm produce copious quantities of nectar which attracts bumblebees and other long-tongue...

Hi everyone, How have you been? I have just returned home to Nashville after a week-long artist-in-residence at Lou Harrison House in Joshua Tree, California. This solo guzheng improvisation was recorded yesterday inspired by this amazing trip. Here’s a little background about Lou Harrison and Harrison House: Lou Harrison (1917–2003) was an American composer, music critic, painter, and creator of...

Hi everyone, This three-track guzheng composition was created and recorded yesterday, inspired by the sunset colors in Nashville last night (photo below). Hope this piece brings you a moment of peace into your weekend. If you are in Southern California , I will be doing a week-long artist residency at Lou Harrison House in Joshua Tree next week. I hope to see you at my concert on April 25th with 2...

This solo guzheng night song was recorded yesterday, inspired by the fire pink flowers and the birds in the forest of west Nashville. The fire pink is a wildflower in the pink family and native to North America. It is known for its distinct brilliant red flowers. Fire pink begins blooming in late spring and continuing throughout the summer. I wish my camera could capture the amazing redness of thi...

Hi everyone, This multi-track guzheng piece was composed and recorded yesterday, the Qingming Festival 清明节. The Qingming Festival, also known as Tomb-Sweeping Day and Ancestors' Day, is a traditional Chinese festival observed by ethnic Chinese in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. A celebration of spring, it fa...

Hi everyone, This solo guzheng étude was created and recorded yesterday to celebrate the first swim of the year! For friends in New York City, hope to see you at this concert of mine below: Lincoln Center, NYC — Wu Fei and Shanir Blumenkranz April 11, Thursday | 7:30pm EDT I am excited to have a phenomenal guest musician - Shanir Blumenkranz (Silk Road Ensemble) to join me on the oud, double bass...

Hi everyone, Thank you for subscribing Wu Fei's Music Daily! Your support is immensely appreciated whether you have been with me from my first episode on May 3, 2020 or from yesterday. I love this time of the year in Nashville. Everyday is a new day with new flowers, wild animals, and sunshine in the forest. I spotted Carolina spring beauties on my hike yesterday. How elegant they are (photo below...

Hi everyone, This piece was a two-track guzheng work built on the harmonics of the open strings. Yesterday, my daughter took me to a spot in the forest where she saw a new kind of blossom for the first time (photo below). They are wild cherry blossoms. One thing I’ve learned living in nature is that wild flowers change every spring. There will always be new blossoms that we never had before. So ev...