New guitar solo for Xuefei Yang

Celebrated guitarist Xuefei Yang will premiere Melbourne Arioso, which Ross has especially composed for her, as part of her Elisabeth Murdoch Hall Melbourne recital, 7.30 pm, November 3rd 2016.

Born following the Cultural Revolution, an era where Western music and instruments were banned, the fascinating story of Fei’s rise to the world stage is that of a musical pioneer. She was the first ever guitarist in China to enter a music school, and became the first to launch an international professional career. Her prodigious talent came to the attention of John Williams who donated two of his own guitars to her conservatorium. Since then, she has been impressing audiences around the globe with her exquisite sound and powerfully emotional performances of repertoire both old and new. The guitar is a world traveller, with a versatility that can take it with ease from 18th-century Germany to the beaches of Brazil. The guitar was still being perfected when Bach wrote his suites for its cousin the lute, but naturally guitarists have adopted these Baroque masterpieces for themselves. From the guitar’s heyday, Granados’ Poetic Waltzes make the leap from virtuoso piano work to an even more dazzling guitar showcase in Fei’s arrangement, revealing perhaps that Granados had the elegant and mellow sound of the guitar in mind all along. The guitar also found an ideal home in the New World, becoming integral to the music of Brazil, as heard in Villa Lobos’ many folk-tinged guitar pieces, and of course the bossa nova of Jobim and company. Its rainbow of sonic colours, its expressive voice and its brilliant exponents have extended the guitar’s global reach to Asia and Australia. The guitar is an ongoing source of inspiration to composers, here represented by the celebrated Ross Edwards who has composed a new work especially for Fei – an exquisite next step in the guitar’s journey.

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