We were supposed to have a Zoom call with Chinese classical guitarist Xuefei Yang on that first Thursday of the new year to talk about her recital on Saturday, Jan. 25, with Tucson Guitar Society.
But things got a little complicated.
It was 5 p.m. in Tucson and midnight in the UK, where her representative Neil was making the Zoom connection with Yang. She was in China, where it was 8 a.m. — Friday.
You see how those criss-crossed lines could become a bit tangled traversing oceans and time zones.
Tangled indeed, from the moment we connected with Neil, a perfectly pleasant man with a nice smile who we could see but not hear, although he heard us just fine.
Yang, who goes by the nickname Fei, tried connecting in China to no avail, so Neil FaceTimed her and flipped the screen so we could see her.
But we still couldn’t hear her.
Hence, we threw in the towel and decided the best alternative was to talk by email.
Yang is no stranger to Tucson classical guitar audiences. She gave her first recital here in 2008 and was here last just before the pandemic in January 2020 with English tenor Ian Bostridge as part of the Tucson Desert Song Festival.
“The Tucson music community (has) been a really good friend for many years,” she said in the email. “I’m really looking forward to returning to Tucson this year.”
Her 2020 Tucson concert, also with Tucson Guitar Society, was one of her last live performances before the pandemic, which put her performance life on hold for several years.
Classical guitarist Xuefei Yang is performing her first Tucson concert since she was here for the 2020 Tucson Desert Song Festival.
Yang comes here with a program drawn from her critically-acclaimed 2023 album “X Culture,” an album that “celebrates cultural diversity through music that crosses cultural boundaries,” she explained.
She curated works written by composers integrating their musical language with inspiration from other cultures including Italian composer Carlo Domeniconi exploring Turkish influences and Cuban Leo Brouwer turning to Japan.
There’s a song from English composer Stephen Goss, drawing from Chinese influences, and one by the late Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who brought Western movie culture to the table.
Yang said she was inspired by the Western composers who have written works for her that borrow from Eastern cultures, which got her thinking about “this cross-fertilization of cultures.” She also thought about how music can be the bridge that unites divisions.
“Our world is often quite divided and when we talk about different cultures, we often think of the barriers,” she said in the email. “As an artist, I would like to build bridges between cultures so that we can bring people together. I think this is particularly important during these times.”
Yang, who lives in London, also delves into Spanish flamenco and Brazilian bossa nova, two genres that she said are well-suited for guitar.
“We often put music into baskets, like classical, pop, folk, etc. The guitar is such a versatile instrument, and whilst I was trained as a classical guitarist, I believe that good music is good music, regardless of its categorization,” she said. “I enjoy many types of music and want to share this with audiences across the world.”
In her 20-plus years on the world stage, Yang is regarded as one of classical guitar’s finest artists, something she never imagined would be possible.
“As a little girl in China, I knew I would like to spend my life playing music, but I didn’t really know what that meant in practical terms, or even if it was possible,” she said, especially since no one before her in China had taken that path on guitar.
Yang was the first-ever person in China to study classical guitar at a conservatory and the first to be internationally recognized on the world stage.
Yang’s recital, part of Tucson Guitar Society’s international artist series, begins at 7 p.m. Saturday at the University of Arizona’s Holsclaw Hall, 1017 N. Olive Road.
Tickets are $35 through tucsonguitarsociety.org/tickets.
