A Maestro Remembered: Shanghai Celebrates the Spirit of Min Huifen

A concert honoring China's erhu master Min Huifen (1945-2014) will be held at Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall on Sunday. Lu Yiwen, a student of Min, will be performing alongside a select group of musicians.

Min was a pivotal figure in Chinese traditional music. Her rendition of the composition "River of Sorrow" profoundly moved the well-known Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa.

Throughout her career, Min worked alongside many international symphony orchestras. The Boston Symphony Orchestra praised her as "a great string player in the world."

Under Min's guidance, Lu studied traditional erhu works and Chinese operas such as Peking, Huju, and Yueju, all closely related to erhu music.

Min believed that the erhu, as the instrument closest to the human voice, ought to be played with a sense of lyricism, and this philosophy has greatly influenced Lu.

The programs feature northeast Chinese folk music, Chaozhou traditional music, and the world premiere of "Blossoming Fragrance," a piece composed by pianist Li Yuanqing specifically for Min's 80th birthday celebration. It will be performed by both Li and Lu.

In the latter part of the concert, Lu will collaborate with Strings' Charm Ensemble for the erhu concerto "The Great Wall Capriccio." The composer Liu Wenjin created the four-movement work in 1982. The updated version has been re-orchestrated by Lu and Huang Wei-Chieh, and it will be presented to Shanghai audiences for the first time.

Performance info

Date: November 30, 7:15pm

Tickets: 80-380 yuan

Venue: Jaguar Shanghai Symphony Hall 上海交响音乐厅

Address: 1380 Fuxing Rd M 复兴中路1380号