Lunar New Year Celebration Concert

Now in its fifth year, this annual event celebrates the Lunar New Year with a special guest performance by renowned Chinese musician Dr. Haiqiong Deng. The program highlights the expressive traditions of the zheng and qin—ancient Chinese instruments central to centuries of musical practice—through Deng’s concert Nature, Music, and Convergence. The recital features Moon Phase, a concerto by Sun Yue written especially for Deng and performed with a chamber ensemble of MSU student musicians on flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and percussion, along with solo works for the traditional 21-string guzheng. Deng will also introduce the instruments and share insight into their sound, history, and cultural significance. A casual post-concert gathering with refreshments will follow.

View the full program for this event.

Generously sponsored by Jim Forger and Deborah Moriarty. The entire Artist-Faculty and Guest Recital Series is sponsored by WKAR.

Video Performance: Traditional Zheng, “The Moon is High”

About the Artist

Haiqiong Deng was born in Lanzhou, China, where she began studying zheng music at an early age. The zheng is a plucked, 21-stringed instrument with a resonant body. The zheng is considered the ancestor of other Asian zithers such as the Japanese koto, Korean gayageum and Vietnamese dàn tranh, and the history of the instrument itself can be traced back over 2,500 years. Traditionally, this music was shared orally in small communities, creating regional variations and stylistic differences. More recently, Chinese universities have conducted comprehensive research on various styles of zheng music and invited leading masters to teach in conservatories. Deng went on to attend the Shanghai Conservatory of Music where she studied under these master musicians and received a Bachelor of Music degree in zheng performance.

See the full bio for Haiqiong Deng.