Chao Feng Chinese Orchestra’s 31st Anniversary Concert was held on Sunday, 25th August 2013 from 4-6pm at Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School Performing Arts Centre. Traditional Chinese instruments - Gaohu, Erhu, Zonghu, Jinghu, Guqin, Dizi (flute), Sheng (mouth organ), Suona, Yangqin, Liuqin, Pipa, Zhongruan, Sanxian, Daruan and Guzheng, joined together to perform several Chinese pieces as in ensemble conducted by Mr. Yat Ping Chan. The performance included pieces played by the whole ensemble as well as solo and duet performances.

Instruments that had the chance to perform in solo performances without accompaniment included Guzheng and Guqin. Guzheng and Guqin is both plucked zither, but Guzheng has more strings and movable bridges. These instruments produce a very clear and soothing sound with a hint of sadness. However, when they are played in a faster tempo, they can sound quite cheerful and energetic. The 2 songs performed by Guzheng and Guqin were “Jackdaws frolicking in the Water” and “Phoenix Tree Leaves dancing in the Autumn Breeze” respectively. Both songs depicts a scene of birds dancing and enjoying themselves in the nature. Due to the nature of the zithers to produce slightly melancholic sound, it felt as though the happiness won’t last long.

The most interesting duet of the performance was the duet by Sheng. Sheng, the Chinese mouthorgan, is always used to harmonise the song in ensembles. Thus, it is quite different to hear the instruments playing a melody rather than the chords that it usually plays in ensembles as accompaniments. The song started slower and when it reached climax, crescendo was noted. Xiao and double bass started playing along with the Sheng during the climax of the song too. It was noted that the flutes weren’t played during the whole performance as the woodwind instrument could overpower the mouthorgan.

The plucked-string ensemble, which included the Zhongruan, Daruan, Pipa, Yangqin, and percussions, performed 2 songs from different provinces. The use of tambourine and a percussion instrument, which sounded like the clunking of wooden shoes kept the beat of the songs, also caused the song to sound more cheerful. Unlike the Guzheng and Guqin, the sound produced by the plucked-string instruments sounds more cheerful and light. Thus, both songs that were performed by the ensemble describe the beautiful scenery of the provinces and the happiness among the people in the community.

When all the instruments come together to perform songs as an ensemble, the combination of each of the instruments allow the songs to sound more soulful as each instruments are able to produce sounds with hints of several different emotions. For instance, Erhu produces a very soothing tone, Dizi produces very high-pitched tones and has the ability to cause the audience to feel nervous or tremble in fear when trills are played, and the list goes on. By utilizing all these sounds, and emphasising on each instrument when different emotion needs to be triggered, the music has the ability to cause the audience to feel several different emotions within a song.

It is obvious that listening to the performance Chinese Musical Ensemble is quite different in comparison to performances of western instruments. Chinese traditional instruments triggers different emotions of the audience, causing the audience to be alert the entire time, instead of having the audience feeling relaxed.