Chinese Diva Brings Sound From the Field to NCPA

Chinese folk musician Zhu Zheqin, also known as Dadawa, will stage the "Show the world, Dadawa and Ethnic Musicians" concert in Beijing on October 20 – part of her Chinese Ethnic Music Collection Tour.

From April to June 2009, Dadawa took a musical trip with her team through Guizhou, Yunnan, Inner Mongolia, Tibet and Xinjiang, recording more than 1,000 music pieces from the field, mostly original ethnic songs sung by local musicians.

Now Dadawa is putting all the inspiration she garnered while on the road into a four-city tour, which will bring folk music from the field to China’s most "developed" metropolises. She will start the tour in Hong Kong, then cross into the mainland to perform in Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou. The tour is taking place under the banner of "Dadawa and Ethnic Musicians," and the ethnic musicians will bring to the stage Miao flying songs, Mongolian long songs and throat singing, Muqam from Xinjiang, the Epic of King Gesar from Tibet, and different varieties of traditional instruments.

At the press conference for the tour launch, Dadawa commented: “Blues, Jazz, R&B, and most popular music genres in the Western world were originally from the field, and Chinese folk music has the potential to develop too.”

Let's hope the “1+5 Program” she’s organizing will help: Dadawa is looking for students who will be sorted into groups of five, with each group studying under one of the folk musicians she met on her travels. 10 percent of the income from Dadawa's tour will be used to support the program."

Show the world, Dadawa and Ethnic Musicians
RMB 180-880, tickets at 6655 0000. 7.30pm, Wednesday October 20
National Centre For The Performing Arts