“Spontaneous composition is a cornerstone of musical creation. Today and throughout history, improvisation is attested in musical traditions the world over. For Lan Tung, an erhu player with a propensity for cross-cultural collaboration, it is the common ground where all her musical influences can intermingle – an innovative approach rooted in historical truth. Refusing to conform to any set notion of what erhu music is or is not, Lan Tung consciously seeks out new influences. By collaborating with musicians from different backgrounds, she explores boundless sonic and formal possibilities while taking inspiration from traditional erhu music. ” – Chan Centre for the Performing Arts 2021 season
Tung has made trans-Pacific partnerships a major part of her festival’s mandate… Just as Tung is comfortable playing traditional Chinese classics, Silk Road fusion sounds (with the Orchid Ensemble and Lalun), or more improvisatory forms with Birds of Paradox, her festival incorporates everything from free interplay to through-composed scores.” – Alex Varty, Georgia Straight, 2016
“Vancouver-based erhu (spike fiddle) player Lan Tung is no stranger to fusing Chinese and Western classical traditions and venturing boldly into new musical territory entirely.” – Vancouver Sun, 2016
“Classically-trained and dedicated to furthering cultural fusions and developing new sonic dialogues…Tung has never shied away from exploring the scope of Chinese music in her own work. She has been building a wider-range community of like-minded players and composers for decades.” – Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun, 2014
“We have no idea why this hasn’t been done before, but we’re glad the Orchid Ensemble’s Lan Tung has organized this long-overdue festival: her eclectic interests will ensure an eye-opening look at the very wide world of “Chinese music”.’ – Georgia Straight, 2014
“Lan Tung inhabits a space of paradox: as a soloist and collaborator, a performer and composer, she sits at the crossroads between the East and the West, innovation and tradition.” – La Scena Musicale, Dec 2011 (French version)
“Lan Tung, on the erhu…sending its knife-edge cadences cutting through the air like the song of a coyote on a winter’s night. She intrigued her listeners when she demonstrated the uncanny similarity between the human voice and the sound of her instrument” – Coast Mountain News.
About Lan’s composition “Dancing Moon”, on Orchid Ensemble’s 3rd CD “Life Death Tears Dream”
“Lan Tung’s vocals on lyrics by a Tang dynasty poet set the narrative stage evoking an energy-filled moonlit nightscape: a celestial stream flowing through an ancient forest of clouds swirling over green mountains. It’s well worth repeated listening“. – Andrew Timar, Whole Note Magazine, 2013
About Lan’s composition “Asian Market, Chapter 1: China”, on Birds of Paradox’s self-titled CD
“… mixes discordant cries, half-heard conversations, the rattle and clatter of traffic, and the whirring and clanking of mysterious machinery into a startling, abstract portrait of a Beijing streetscape. Even if you’ve never been to the Chinese capital, it’ll put you there“ – Alex Varty, Georgia Straight, July 8, 2010
About Lan’s composition “Traveling with My Sixth Sense” at the Sonic Boom Festival
” a structured improvisation … The theoretical – and theatrical – considerations behind the piece are complex… Lan’s attempt to harness the power of intuition paid off in a piece that showered listeners vivid blocks of tonal colour.” – Alex Varty, Georgia Straight, March 2004
About Lan’s performance on the Orchid Ensemble’s CDs
“Ensemble leader Lan Tung performs on the erhu, a two-string stick fiddle that, despite having only one pair of strings, creates strikingly vast sounds. The opening ‘The Winged Horses of Heaven’, an ode to the explorative 13th Century general Zhang Qian, shimmers gorgeously with Tung’s precise show(wo)manship”. – Derek Beres, Sing Out, The Folk Song Magazine
“Lan Tung performs on the erhu, …creates strikingly vast sounds.., shimmers gorgeously with Tung’s precise show(wo)manship” – Sing Out! The Folk Song Magazine, by Derek Beres
“The trio of musicians bring vast experience and wisdom to their performance often weaving the Chinese zither and Chinese violin with percussion from varying traditions” – Patty-Lynn Herlevi
“Orchid Ensemble’s leader is North Vancouver’s Lan Tung, who breathes life into the CD’s selections with her mastery of the erhu ” – North Shore News.
“One of the brightest blossoms on the world music scene is the aptly named Orchid Ensemble, whose exotic and beautiful sounds are rooted in the Chinese tradition but also incorporate elements of New Music and Jazz.”- Georgia Straight
More at www.orchidensemble.com