Lan Tung

Leader of the Orchid Ensemble, Lan Tung has been playing the erhu for more than twenty years. She received her training at the Chinese Cultural University in Taiwan, where she has won numerous first prizes in national music competitions. Lan was a member of the Taipei Youth Chinese Orchestra. She has studied with many erhu masters, including the world-renowned American Chinese virtuoso Jebing Chen and the principal erhu player of the China Radio Orchestra Fun Ming Zhang. Both have led her to form a strong base of traditional styles and techniques.

Education

Bachelor of Music Therapy, Capilano College, 1997-2000
Music Transfer Program, Capilano College, 1995-1997
Chinese Music Program, School of Music, Chinese Cultural University, Taiwan, 1992-1994
Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy, 2005-
Vancouver Creative Music Institute, 2007

Private Studies

Egyptian violin – Dr. Alfred Gamil, Cairo, Egypt, Dec 2005- Feb 2006

Hindustani classical music - with violinist Kala Ramnath, Bombay, India, Dec 2004-Feb 2005

Hindustani music - California, 2007

Erhu studies –

with Zhang Fun Min, Beijing, China, 2002
with Jebing Chen, San Francisco, USA, 1999
with Ng K-B, Vancouver, Canada, 1994-1996
with Lee Chun Tung, Chinese Cultural University, 1992-1993
with Chen Su-Feng, Taipei, Taiwan, 1990-1992
with Huang Ching-Ming, Taipei, Taiwan, 1989-1990

Vocal studies –
- with Joseph Shore, 2004
- at Capilano College,1994-1996
- with Gou Yue Zhu, 1986-1988

Lan with Kala Ramnath in
Bombay, India, January 2005.

Lan at Junior High School, 1988

photo: Wayne Lau

Since moving to Canada in 1994, Lan has performed and premiered numerous contemporary compositions, including chamber, solo, orchestral and electro-acoustic works, by Canadian composers John Oliver, Hope Lee, Moshe Denburg, Mark Armanini, Jin Zhang, Neil Weisensel, Paul Plimley, Ya-Wen V. Wang, and Farshid Samandari. Her fascination in creative improvisation has driven her to perform with a number of Vancouver’s most innovative improvisers, including the Crossing Borders Ensemble, led by Coat Cook and Ron Samworth.

Lan is active in a number of cross-cultural musical projects. In Egypt, she joined qanoun player Hossan Shaker and his band Ra7ala in concerts. In Canada, she has collaborated with Persian santur player Alan Kushan, Indian sitar player James Hamilton, Carnatic singer Vidyasagar Vankayala, Vietnamese group Khac Chi Ensemble, Multi-instrumentalist Randy Raine-Reusch, Romanian gypsy violinist Lache Cercel, Klezmer woodwind player Mike Braverman, African drummer Mandido Morris, Celtic band Mad Pudding, and appeared in blues jams. Lan has appeared on festival stages as a guest with the Tuvan ensemble Huun Hurr Tu, UK’s premiere African/World Music band Baka Beyond, and Canadian legend Bill Bourne.

Lan performs with the Vancouver Inter-cultural Orchestra and serves on its board. Since 2003, Tung has been performing with Tandava, which is taking her one more step further into fusion styles with Indian and Central Asian traditions. Tandava’s self-titled debut CD has been released recently and selected to be on Global Rhythm Magazine’s CD Sampler, reaching over 120,000 readers. As the winner of BC Festival of the Arts’ Award of Excellence in 2000, Lan’s role in the field of world music is directly related to the rich cultural diversity in Vancouver.

Wedding Jam Party; left - Ching Chang on pipa, Bruce Nielsen on percussion; back - Paul Plimley on vibraphone; right - Moshe Denburg on guitar. Where is the groom?

In 1997, Lan founded the Orchid Ensemble, with which she acts as the artistic director, producing annual concerts supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. Her fresh visions have taken the ensemble to collaborate with composers, musicians, dancers, media artists, and calligraphers from different cultures in innovative programming. Lan continues to expend her involvements in interdisciplinary practices and co-present events with leading arts and community organizations.

The Orchid Ensemble’s unique instrumentation has been Lan’s major vehicle in music writing. Her rearranged Chinese melodies act as bridges to connect Chinese music with western ears, and she is experimenting using materials from other cultures to expand her musical vocabulary. Lan is also very interested in bringing improvisation to the Chinese musical tradition. Improvisation is a relatively new way of playing for the classically trained Chinese musicians, and it is a brand new area in developing new sounds that suit the characteristics of the traditional instruments.

In 1999, Lan received a special award from the Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society for promoting Chinese music in Canada, and facilitating cultural exchange through music. Lan founded the first Chinese Music program for young people in Vancouver in 1998, and she teaches in both English and Chinese.

Lan performed with the Chinese Orchestra at her elementary school, 1984.

Teaching

lectures at colleges and universities across North America, since 2001
Eric Hamber Secondary School, Vancouver, 2000
Jamieson Elementary School, Vancouver, 1998-1999
Vancouver Chinese Cultural Centre, 1996
Chinese Ensemble of Taipei Medical College, 1993-1994
The Affiliated Senior High School of National Taiwan Normal University, 1993-1994
Private teaching studio, since 1992

Lan has studied with Hindustani violinist Kala Ramnath in Bombay in 2004-2005 and with Egyptian violinist Dr. Alfred Gamil in Cairo the next winter. She is currently studying Flamenco music and dance. Her long-term goals are to pursue international performances, both as a soloist and with her ensembles, and to have a deeper understanding of different musical styles through studying and collaborating with virtuous musicians from diverse cultures.

Lan with Huun Huur Tu (Tuva)