(China/New Zealand)
I never heard the rustling pines and flowing stream. Not until today I hear music...
Gao Shan Liu Shui (High Mountain Flowing Water) is an ancient tale of the unlikely yet profound friendship between a master player of the quqin (the most ancient of Chinese string instruments) and an untutored woodcutter who understands his music like no other. When the master musician makes his annual pilgrimage to play for his friend and discovers him dead he smashes his guqin and breaks its strings, never to play again. For who else in the world could so understand his music?
For whom do I play the guqin? Is a question that haunts all musicians. Masters in their chosen instruments, pianist and composer Gao Ping, and guqin virtuoso Wu Na, collaborate for the first time in this unique performance combining their innovative approaches to music-making. Joining forces with Kunqu opera star Dong Fei, visual designer Jon He and acclaimed director Sara Brodie, the musical contemporaries bring to life the shared spirit of understanding that is Gao Shan Liu Shui.
Presented by the Confucius Institute at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand with generous support from Orient Express, Ministry of Culture, China.
Nelson Arts Festival
