MUSIC MAN. Dr. Jiyu Yang and his Portland Orchids & Bamboo Quartet perform at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, located in Portland’s Chinatown, on Thursday and Sunday afternoons. The mid-day concerts are scheduled through the end of May. (AR Photo/Ian Blazina)

From The Asian Reporter, V18, #15 (April 8, 2008), page 1 & 15.

By Ian Blazina

The Portland Classical Chinese Garden is currently hosting performances by Dr. Jiyu Yang and his Portland Orchids & Bamboo Quartet every Thursday and Sunday. On Thursdays, Dr. Yang performs with Louis Lim in the teahouse, while the Sunday performances include the entire quartet. The graceful sounds of court and folk music from China, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and other Central and East Asian countries are a fitting soundtrack for the serenity of an afternoon in the garden.

Yang plays the erhu and gaohu, two fretless, fiddle-like instruments that originated in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Both instruments are astonishingly expressive, generating sounds that range from high-pitched, bird-like warbles to anthropomorphic drawls and clean, viola- or violin-like notes.

Yang is accompanied on Thursdays by Louis Lim, who plays the yangqin, a hammered dulcimer, and the liuqin, a small lute resembling a mandolin.

On Sundays, the quartet is rounded out with Wenqeu Guo playing the guzheng, a Chinese zither similar to the Japanese koto, and Henry Hong on the bamboo flute. They are also occasionally joined by Holly Lim on yangqin and percussion, and David Dahl on the Chinese cello and duxianqin, a single-stringed plucked zither.

The musicians play a wide range of music from the Tang and Sung Dynasties through the Ming and Qing Dynasties as well as modern tunes. The songs originate from many areas of China and surrounding countries, and include compositions from the imperial courts, Cantonese and Peking opera music, and folk songs.

According to Dr. Yang, "The mission of the ensemble is to introduce Chinese music to the public, including traditional, classical, and folk music and the different ethnic music of China."

Dr. Jiyu Yang and Louis Lim play Thursdays from 11:00am to 2:00pm, and Yang’s Portland Orchids & Bamboo Quartet play Sundays from 2:00pm to 4:30pm at the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, located at N.W. Third Avenue and N.W. Everett Street in Portland.

For more information, call (503) 736-0198, or visit <www.taooftea.com> or <www.portlandchinesegarden.org>.