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Lan Tung (centre, holding up erhu bow) is inviting musicians to attend the Song of Joy Music Party on April 5.

Lan Tung is one of Vancouver’s truly global musicians. An erhu virtuoso, composer, and artistic director of the Sound of Dragon Music Festival, Tung has performed as a soloist with western and Chinese orchestras. In addition, the long-time Vancouver resident has studied Hindustani, Uyghur, and Mongolian music.

Tung is also exceptionally busy. Not only is she a founding member of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, the Taiwanese-born musician is also artistic director and resident composer of Sound of Dragon Ensemble, Orchid Ensemble, Vancouver Erhu Quartet, Crossbridge Strings, and Proliferasian.

Therefore, it’s no surprise that the Sound of Dragon Music Festival only happens once every two years. This year, it runs from Thursday (April 2) to next Sunday (April 5) in Vancouver.

“We’re a small organization with not a lot of people running it,” Tung tells Pancouver over Zoom. “I still need to stay active as a performer. And I’ve also had to compose and manage different ensembles. So we do the festival every other year.”

The festival aims to redefine Chinese music through imaginative cross-cultural collaborations. One of Tung’s primary goals is to break away from stereotypes around Chinese instruments and Chinese music.

Tung exposes audiences to new genres

She says that organizers launched the Sound of Dragon Music Festival in 2014 in response to the growing number of Chinese music ensembles in Canada. Most were concentrated in Vancouver and each had a different focus.

According to Tung, some ensembles performed contemporary or traditional music. Others preferred world or jazz music. And she leads ensembles that are more avant-garde in their orientation.

“Each ensemble has a separate audience—and there was not a lot of mixing of audiences,” Tung recalls. “So, I thought it would be really good to have a showcase of all the different ensembles that really show the possibilities and potential of our instruments in different contexts and different genres.”

That way, each audience could be exposed to other forms of music performed with Chinese instruments. This year’s event features three concerts at the Annex (823 Seymour Street) from Thursday to Saturday. Then it will close on April 5 with the Song of Joy freestyle music jam party at the 8EAST social space for new culture (8 East Pender Street).

“I think it’s pretty good timing,” Tung says, “because especially in the last 10 years, we can see a lot more organizations are presenting music and works that involve Chinese instruments in different contexts.”

Concerts showcase diversity through instruments

The first concert, Jade Emperor’s Great Race, features the Toronto-based PhoeNX Ensemble and the Taiwan-based Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra.

“It’s about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac,” Tung says. “It’s the story of how this calendar was created.”

Legend has it that the emperor held a race between a number of animals, awarding a year to each of the top 12 finishers. PhoeNX Ensemble commissioned works on this theme by Canadian and Asian composers, including Tung.

The second concert—Strum, Bow, Roar—features three Vancouver ensembles. 88 Strings, Erhu Quartet, and Multicultural Wind Ensemble each play instruments from the same family.

The 88 Strings quartet will perform plucked instruments, with Dailin Hsieh on zheng, Joy Yeh on harp, John Oliver on guitar, and Ali Razmi on tar. The Vancouver Erhu Quartet is comprised of Tung and Jun Rong on erhu, Parmella Attariwala on viola, and Sungyong Lim on cello. And the Multicultural Wind Ensemble will feature Amir Eslami (ney), Zhongxi Wu (suona and sheng), Alcvin Ryūzen Ramos (shakuhachi), Charlie Lui (dizi), and Hamin Honari (tombak and daf).

Tung points out that there are plucked-instrument ensembles in China, But unlike those in China, 88 Strings crosses cultures by integrating the guitar, harp, and tar with the zheng, which is a traditional Chinese instrument.

“We all started around a similar time,” Tung says. “The 88 Strings and the Multicultural Wind [ensembles] came from workshops in the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra.

“We all know each other and listen to each other,” she adds. “So, it’s interesting to put it together in one concert.”

Tung will collaborate with Métis artist

The festival’s third concert on Saturday is called Encounters: Taiwan, Toronto, Vancouver. It will offer an opportunity for the visiting musicians from Taiwan and Toronto to perform with their Vancouver counterparts. In addition, Juno-nominated Métis singer songwriter/composer Wayne Lavallee will perform with Tung.

They met in the 1990s when they were both starting their careers. In those days, Tung sometimes performed at festivals that also featured Indigenous musicians.

“After that, we went in different directions and didn’t cross paths again for another, like, 25 years,” Tung states.

But after seeing messages on Facebook, Tung realized that Lavallee lived quite close to her. So they met up, talked and improvised, and discovered that they really clicked musically.

“So, I invited him to come [to the festival],” she reveals. “This is actually the first time we will perform together.”

The Sound of Dragon Music Festival runs from April 2 to 5 at the Annex (823 Seymour Street) and the 8EAST social space for new culture (8 East Pender Street) in Vancouver. For tickets and more information, visit the festival website. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia and on Instagram @PancouverMedia.