"People love it. It's more accessible," Cheng said. "Instead of just strange sounds there is a point of reference, and it's easier to understand."
STAYING IN TUNE: Music From China, founded in 1984, is a chamber ensemble that performs traditional and contemporary Chinese music with classical instruments
The group also performs traditional works of Chinese music, and one of its missions is to preserve the musical heritage of China with performances, classes and workshops. The group holds music programs in New York and New Jersey during the low season of its performance schedule. While classes are dominated by Chinese-American families seeking to connect with their heritage, students from multicultural families also attend the classes. The classes are popular, and what started out as summer camp programming has been extended throughout the year. In addition to musical training, the classes also teach participants about Chinese culture and traditions.
In 2006, MFC launched the China Youth Orchestra. Members range in age from seven to 18 years old, Cheng said. The group of 25 members performed recently at Carnegie Hall in its debut concert "Music Rainbow." The performance included Chinese and American music on the erhu, yangqin, liuqin, ruan, zheng, hulusi, cello and percussion instruments.
This July 15 members of the Youth Orchestra will travel to Shanghai for five days to perform with the Shanghai Municipal Children's Palace Orchestra. In addition to rehearsals and performances, the students will also tour musical sights in the city and have a cultural exchange with the Shanghai orchestra members. The Shanghai orchestra members bring with them their dedication, discipline and well-trained talent, while the American.
students will share their creativity and passion. Playing songs by American composers such as George Gershwin is a great thing for the Shanghai students as well, she adds, as it teaches them musical stylings that they may not have learned before.
"America is a crossroads," Cheng says, "we like to mix things up and see what comes out of it."
And in the Internet era, dragging kids away from the computer and into a group, cultural activity is good for their development. The compositions that MFC creates are musically exciting, with an emphasis on exploration.
"Some things work and some things don't work," Cheng says. "Traditional music is always the same. It doesn't have the same challenge."
Over the past 25 years, MFC has performed 111 new works by 67 composers. Half of those were commissioned pieces by well-known composers, and the other half were from unknown, emerging composers who were winners in MFC's annual International Composition Competition. The competition, which has been held since 1992, encourages emerging Chinese composers to write pieces for traditional instruments. Since the prize money for the winners is relatively small, the contest tends to attract young composers at the college, and even high school, level in China. These emerging artists then get a chance to have their composition performed by MFC in their annual performance.
