The 2009 Vancouver Creative Music Institute performance of Lan Tung's composition Asian Market, graphic score for improvisers

Asian Market, composed by Lan Tung

Naadaleela Ensemble (naadaleela.ca)
Vidyasagar Vankayala – voice
Lan Tung – erhu & voice & percussion
Dailin Hsieh – zheng & percussion
Amir Eslami – ney
Curtis Andrews – mridangam & shakers
Jared Burrows – guitar
Jonathan Bernard – percussion

Ay Yo Wei 哎喲喂- Lan Tung (2021)
This piece fuses a well-known Taiwanese folk song with original melodies of South Indian influences. The lyrical female voice singing in Taiwanese is contrasted with energetic rhythmic interjections where a male voice sung in Sargam (the notes in South Indian music) leads the instruments. The middle section is a dialogue between the mridangam of South Indian and a Chinese opera percussion ensemble.

思想起，桃花含唇啊伊都有胭脂，
李花哪獻白啊伊都無香味啊伊都哎喲喂。

思想起，日頭出來啊伊都滿天紅，
枋寮哪過去啊伊都是楓港啊伊都哎喲喂。

希望阿哥哇來痛疼哎喲喂，
哎喲痛疼小妹呀做工人啊伊都哎喲喂。

Remember…
the blush of the blossoming peach flower,
the white offerings from the plum flowers without fragrance;

Remember…
the sky turning red at sunrise,
pass this village it is Maple Port;

Remember…
I wish to be cherished when I marry,
all the hardship in life would be over


Marc L’Esperance – audio engineer
Sound of Dragon Society presentation
Recorded at the Annex, Vancouver, Oct 12, 202

The Naadaleela Ensemble was born out of a desire to explore the common (and not-so-common) musical ground between the music of the “Eastern” world. Featuring acclaimed musicians from Iran, South India, Taiwan, and North America, the sounds of Persian and Indian classical music meet with those of China, tempered with a tinge of North American jazz aesthetics. The Naadaleela Ensemble creates a musical conversation between ancient cultures that span the Silk Road and have been influencing each other for over 2,000 years. It takes the listeners on a fascinating musical journey. 

娜達里拉樂團匯聚東方音樂世界的不同文化，主要成員來自台灣、印度、伊朗族裔，包括董籃(二胡&演唱)、謝岱霖(古箏)、 柯特斯．安祖魯(南印度姆當岡鼓)、維迪亞薩嘎．梵卡亞拉(南印度風格演唱)、阿米爾．阿斯蘭米(波斯笛)、以及爵士樂手傑瑞德．巴羅斯(電吉他)、打擊樂演奏家強納森．伯納德。古代絲路文化的交流碰撞，在娜達里拉樂團裡重現，並蛻變出新的音響。

Ay Yo Wei - composed by Lan Tung, performed by Naadaleela Ensemble Oct 2021

From the Stars 星空 – Lan Tung (Taiwan/Canada) 董籃作曲
Orchid Ensemble 蘭韻樂團演奏 orchidensemble.com
Lan Tung董籃 – erhu 二胡 & vocal 演唱
Dailin Hsieh謝岱霖 – zheng 箏
Jonathan Bernard – percussion 打擊樂

圍坐在燦爛的星空下，老人為孩子們講述遠古部落的故事。
Sitting under the stars, the elders tell ancient stories that have been passing down from generation to generation.

orchidensemble.com

Established in 1997 in Vancouver, the JUNO nominated Orchid Ensemble blends ancient musical instruments and traditions from China and beyond, creating a beautiful new sound. The ensemble has embraced a variety of musical styles to its repertoire, ranging from the traditional and contemporary music of China, World Music, New Music to Jazz and Creative Improvisation. The energetic yet endearing performance style of the ensemble consistently intrigues and delights its audiences. Acclaimed as ‘One of the brightest blossoms on the world music scene’ (Georgia Straight), the Orchid Ensemble has been tirelessly developing an innovative musical genre based on the cultural exchange between Western and Asian musicians.

From The Stars - composed by Lan Tung, performed by Orchid Ensemble, June 2021

Dancing Moon 月舞 – Lan Tung (Taiwan/Canada) 董籃作曲
Orchid Ensemble 蘭韻樂團演奏 orchidensemble.com
Lan Tung 董籃 – erhu 二胡 & vocal 演唱
Dailin Hsieh 謝岱霖 – zheng 箏
Jonathan Bernard – percussion 打擊樂

月夜江行，寄崔員外宗之 － 李白
月隨碧山轉 
水和青天流
緲如星河上
但覺雲林悠

節奏發展受巴爾幹半島及印度音樂影響，吟唱部分採李白的詩，收錄於蘭韻樂團的《生死淚夢》專輯，並贏得美國國際獨立音樂獎(Independent Music Awards)。

To contrast with its constant motion, a number of gestures for improvisation are inserted, taking inspiration from an ancient poem praising the moon hanging high over the mountains. The piece ends in a fast 9 beat cycle and a series of modulations, inspired by Balkan music. It is recorded on the Orchid Ensemble’s 2012 CD Life Death Tears Dream, winning the Eclectic Song of the International Independent Music Awards.

The moon circles green mountains
rivers flow into the blue sky
vaguely into the Celestial Stream
through an age-old forest of clouds
— Moonlit Night Travelling on the River, Li Bai (701-762)
orchidensemble.com

Established in 1997 in Vancouver, the JUNO nominated Orchid Ensemble blends ancient musical instruments and traditions from China and beyond, creating a beautiful new sound. The ensemble has embraced a variety of musical styles to its repertoire, ranging from the traditional and contemporary music of China, World Music, New Music to Jazz and Creative Improvisation. The energetic yet endearing performance style of the ensemble consistently intrigues and delights its audiences. Acclaimed as ‘One of the brightest blossoms on the world music scene’ (Georgia Straight), the Orchid Ensemble has been tirelessly developing an innovative musical genre based on the cultural exchange between Western and Asian musicians.

Dancing Moon - composed by Lan Tung, performed by Orchid Ensemble, June 2021

Oriole - Lan Tung (2016)
Composed for the Sound of Dragon Ensemble's debut concert at the 2016 Sound of Dragon Music Festival, the vocal part of this piece is extracted from a popular song in a Chinese movie "Orioles Banished from the Flowers" (1948).

recorded at the Annex, Vancouver
July 2020

Lan Tung - erhu & vocal 董籃－二胡／演唱
Mark Ferris - violin
Charlie Lui - dizi 呂畇初 - 笛子
Mark McGregor - flute
Marina Hasselberg - cello 大提琴
Itamar Erez - guitar
Jonathan Bernard - percussion 打擊樂
Zhimin Yu - ruan 于志敏 －阮
www.soundofdragon.com

The Sound of Dragon Ensemble brings together some of the most skillful musicians from both the east and the west. The vision behind the Sound of Dragon Ensemble is to become a creative platform for musicians and composers sharing similar interests in contemporary cross-cultural music to collaborate together, fostering a sense of community and providing a creative outlet. In the 2016 & 2017 seasons, the ensemble is developing a strong core group of 8 musicians. This will give the ensemble a solid base, with the potential to invite additional musicians to join in at future productions, allowing the Sound of Dragon Society the flexibility to program various outstanding cross-cultural chamber works. Musicians normally in different ensembles will be able to work together and interact more frequently.

Oriole - composed by Lan Tung, performed by Sound of Dragon Ensemble, July 2020

Lan Tung (erhu, vocal) & Marina Hasselberg (cello) Improvisation Jan 2021

Inspired by Ba Ban or Eight Phrases, the root of hundreds of pieces in traditional Chinese repertoire, this original work written for improvising musicians explores the contrasts between tonalities and genres. It embodies the paradox of many opposite characters: chromatic and pentatonic passages, composed and improvised materials, contemporary and traditional forms, with sudden shifts between surreal or mysterious quality and an exciting fast 3+2+3 rhythmic cycle. Ba Ban Variations was premiered by the Vancouver Creative Music Institute at 2009 Vancouver International Jazz Festival, and has since then been performed by a number of ensembles in North America and Asia.

Ba Ban Variations

composed by Lan Tung,
performed by Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra
conducted by Chih-Sheng Chen
for dizi, erhu, zheng, pipa, yangqin, ruan, percussion
also has a quartet version: flute, cello, piano, and erhu or violin or viola 

In the process of transformation, a new sound is created. Exploring the transformation between different musical genres, the original inspiration for Beijing Opera Rock came from the seemingly incompatible musical forms of Beijing Opera and Jazz. It is built on a short phrase used as bridge (過門) in Beijing Opera music; however, set in a cycle of 7 beats similar to a lehara in Indian classical music. The middle section draws influences from Indonesian gamelan. As each influence presented itself, the contracting, complimenting, and sometimes contradicting natures are explored. The duality of yin and yang exists within each musical genre individually, and also in its relationships to other genres.

Beijing Opera Rock - Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra

Improvisation - 2012
Lan Tung (erhu & vocal) / Navid Navab (electronics)
Matralab, Montreal, Canada

Don't try to figure out what language I am singing in. It is fake Chinese!  I made up sounds resembling Chinese in Beijing opera style. The words don't really have meanings.


Lan Tung & Navid Navab Improvisation

Moon World 《月世界》 -- Lan Tung 董籃 & Li Tung 董籬 (2011) - flexible instrumentation
watch the full piece at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiEAligWv6c

Performed by Proliferasian: 
Lan Tung 董籃 - erhu 二胡, Shane Krause - clarinet, Dave Chokroun - bass, Kevin Romain - drums, with special guest Fengxia Xu 徐鳳霞 - zheng 箏

Traveling freely between composed and improvised worlds, Proliferasian is a unique voice rising from the west coast of Canada. The band encompasses both rhythmic accuracy and the fluidity and spontaneity in creative improvisation. The intricately composed materials provide the structures and frameworks, while the graphic symbols leave much freedom for interpretation. Proliferasian may take inspiration from Asian music, literature, landscape, legends, or paintings, but its music will definitely break any preconceptions of Asian
cultures.

To read more about the band:
http://lantungmusic.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=4
www.lantungmusic.com

This piece is inspired by the unique landscape of Moon World in Tainan, Taiwan (台南市左鎮區的草山月世界). The chalk soil in this area has prevented the growth of grass and trees. Furthermore, the bare mountains have been sliced open by a number of rivers. As a result, the landscape resembles the surface on the moon. I visited Moon World on a field trip at junior high school and was struck by the unusual surroundings, as if stepping into an unearthly world. This image has stayed with me for all these years.

The score combines three systems of musical notations: graphic notation, cipher notation (numbers), and conventional staff notation. Taiwanese painter/novelist (and my dear brother) Li Tung's (董籬) landscape painting of Moon World has inspired the piece and provided the basic structure. The painting itself has become a part of the score, and the score is at the same time the artwork.

This piece is to capture the mysterious feel of the place, from a cloudious introduction, a surreal solo on a bass instrument, to an ensemble improvisation following closely to the shapes and shades of the mountains in Li's painting. Zooming in extremely on the painting, various moods and shapes jumped out, offering the ideas for the first two sections of the piece. Only in the final part, the painting is revealed in its entireness.


台南月世界的土壤含鹼量極高，使得當地草木難以生長，裸露的山脊又被河川切割開來，形成好比月球表面似的奇特景色。念國中時，我曾經去過一次月世界，雖然只是短暫的停留，那感覺如同步入一個不存在地球上的世界，至今仍讓我印象深刻。

【月世界】的樂譜結合了三種不同的記譜法：圖像記譜、簡譜（數字）與西洋五線譜。台灣畫家/小說家(我的哥哥)董籬所繪的月世界給了我靈感，並提供了這個作品的基本架構。於是，畫的本身成為了樂譜的一部份，而樂譜本身也同時成為藝術作品。

這首樂曲補捉了月世界的神秘感，引子在層層雲霧中展開，並拮取畫中部份圖像做為元素，引導音樂家即興演奏時的想像。跟著是低音聲部的獨奏，之後，其他樂器加入與低音樂器即興的對話，獨特的音響色彩，漸漸脫離我們所熟悉的現實世界。最後，畫的全貌才在樂譜中顯現出來，即興者的演奏隨著畫中山巒的起伏而變化。
This piece is inspired by the unique landscape of Moon World in Tainan, Taiwan (台南市左鎮區的草山月世界). The chalk soil in this area has prevented the growth of grass and trees. Furthermore, the bare mountains have been sliced open by a number of rivers. As a result, the landscape resembles the surface on the moon. I visited Moon World on a field trip at junior high school and was struck by the unusual surroundings, as if stepping into an unearthly world. This image has stayed with me for all these years.

The score combines three systems of musical notations: graphic notation, cipher notation (numbers), and conventional staff notation. Taiwanese painter/novelist (and my dear brother) Li Tung's (董籬) landscape painting of Moon World has inspired the piece and provided the basic structure. The painting itself has become a part of the score, and the score is at the same time the artwork.

This piece is to capture the mysterious feel of the place, from a cloudious introduction, a surreal solo on a bass instrument, to an ensemble improvisation following closely to the shapes and shades of the mountains in Li's painting. Zooming in extremely on the painting, various moods and shapes jumped out, offering the ideas for the first two sections of the piece. Only in the final part, the painting is revealed in its entireness.


台南月世界的土壤含鹼量極高，使得當地草木難以生長，裸露的山脊又被河川切割開來，形成好比月球表面似的奇特景色。念國中時，我曾經去過一次月世界，雖然只是短暫的停留，那感覺如同步入一個不存在地球上的世界，至今仍讓我印象深刻。

【月世界】的樂譜結合了三種不同的記譜法：圖像記譜、簡譜（數字）與西洋五線譜。台灣畫家/小說家(我的哥哥)董籬所繪的月世界給了我靈感，並提供了這個作品的基本架構。於是，畫的本身成為了樂譜的一部份，而樂譜本身也同時成為藝術作品。

這首樂曲補捉了月世界的神秘感，引子在層層雲霧中展開，並拮取畫中部份圖像做為元素，引導音樂家即興演奏時的想像。跟著是低音聲部的獨奏，之後，其他樂器加入與低音樂器即興的對話，獨特的音響色彩，漸漸脫離我們所熟悉的現實世界。最後，畫的全貌才在樂譜中顯現出來，即興者的演奏隨著畫中山巒的起伏而變化。voice rising from the west coast of Canada. The band encompasses both rhythmic accuracy and the fluidity and spontaneity in creative improvisation. The intricately composed materials provide the structures and frameworks, while the graphic symbols leave much freedom for interpretation. Proliferasian may take inspiration from Asian music, literature, landscape, legends, or paintings, but its music will definitely break any preconceptions of Asian
cultures.

To read more about the band:
http://lantungmusic.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=4
www.lantungmusic.comThis piece is inspired by the unique landscape of Moon World in Tainan, Taiwan (台南市左鎮區的草山月世界). The chalk soil in this area has prevented the growth of grass and trees. Furthermore, the bare mountains have been sliced open by a number of rivers. As a result, the landscape resembles the surface on the moon. I visited Moon World on a field trip at junior high school and was struck by the unusual surroundings, as if stepping into an unearthly world. This image has stayed with me for all these years.

The score combines three systems of musical notations: graphic notation, cipher notation (numbers), and conventional staff notation. Taiwanese painter/novelist (and my dear brother) Li Tung's (董籬) landscape painting of Moon World has inspired the piece and provided the basic structure. The painting itself has become a part of the score, and the score is at the same time the artwork.

This piece is to capture the mysterious feel of the place, from a cloudious introduction, a surreal solo on a bass instrument, to an ensemble improvisation following closely to the shapes and shades of the mountains in Li's painting. Zooming in extremely on the painting, various moods and shapes jumped out, offering the ideas for the first two sections of the piece. Only in the final part, the painting is revealed in its entireness.


台南月世界的土壤含鹼量極高，使得當地草木難以生長，裸露的山脊又被河川切割開來，形成好比月球表面似的奇特景色。念國中時，我曾經去過一次月世界，雖然只是短暫的停留，那感覺如同步入一個不存在地球上的世界，至今仍讓我印象深刻。

【月世界】的樂譜結合了三種不同的記譜法：圖像記譜、簡譜（數字）與西洋五線譜。台灣畫家/小說家(我的哥哥)董籬所繪的月世界給了我靈感，並提供了這個作品的基本架構。於是，畫的本身成為了樂譜的一部份，而樂譜本身也同時成為藝術作品。

這首樂曲補捉了月世界的神秘感，引子在層層雲霧中展開，並拮取畫中部份圖像做為元素，引導音樂家即興演奏時的想像。跟著是低音聲部的獨奏，之後，其他樂器加入與低音樂器即興的對話，獨特的音響色彩，漸漸脫離我們所熟悉的現實世界。最後，畫的全貌才在樂譜中顯現出來，即興者的演奏隨著畫中山巒的起伏而變化。

Moon World - Proliferasian with Xu Fengxia, excerpt from 2012 Vancouver Jazz Festival

Crossing between Vancouver’s new music, improvised music and world music scenes, erhu/Chinese violin performer and composer Lan Tung is the artistic director of the Orchid Ensemble & Proliferasian. Originally from Taiwan and trained in Chinese music, Lan enjoys experimenting with contradictions by taking culturally specific materials outside their context and fusing them with other genres. Her rhythmic intricacy has a direct influence from Indian music, while her passionate melodies from Flamenco and Central Asian music, and the sense of breath/space from Chinese music. Her music has been released on a number of CDs, winning multiple nominations by the JUNO Awards, Independent Music Awards, Canadian Independent Music Awards, and Western Canadian Music Awards. Lan also performs with the world/Indian fusion band Tandava, contemporary jazz/improv trio Birds of Paradox, Mozaico Flamenco Dance Theatre, and the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra. 

Besides many years of studies of Chinese music, Lan has studied graphic score with Barry Guy, improvisation with Mary Oliver, Hindustani music with Kala Ramnath, and Uyghur music with Abdukerim Osman. At the Vancouver Creative Music Institute (2007-2009), she has studied and performed with Han Bennink (Holland), Barry Guy, Evan Parker, John Butcher (UK), Francois Houle, Paul Plimley…etc. 

Lan was a soloist with Orchestre Metropolitain (Montreal), Symphony Nova Scotia, Turning Point Ensemble (Vancouver), Atlas Ensemble (Amsterdam & Helsinki), Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan) and Orchestra Armonia (Vancouver). She has toured in North America, Europe and Asia, with performances at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (Amsterdam), Place des Arts (Montreal), National Arts Centre (Ottawa), Sibelius Academy (Musica Nova Helsinki), Kennedy Centre (DC), Chan Centre (Vancouver), Smithsonian Institute, Ottawa Chamber Music, Folk and Jazz festivals, Vancouver Jazz and Folk festivals.
