Five female musicians are bringing to life the elegant scenes and music of ladies playing traditional Chinese instruments in ancient times. They call themselves Oriental Glamor.
For many people, young women wearing traditional Chinese dress and playing traditional instruments - scenes from paintings by late artist/designer Chen Yifei - are their vision of Oriental beauty.
For Wang Long and her four female musical partners, however, the elegant scene is more than just a painting: They are recreating it in real life. Beautiful women, beautiful clothes, beautiful music - the whole evocative tableau.
Oriental Glamor, led by Wang, is an all-female traditional Chinese chamber music ensemble. The members, aged from 24 to 37, wear traditional dresses like qipao and long-sleeved gowns. They play traditional instruments the yangqin (dulcimer), pipa (Chinese lute), erhu (two-string fiddle), dizi (side-blown bamboo flute) and guzheng (Chinese zither).
In an effort to promote traditional Chinese music, they play the classics as well as new music adapted from pop tunes and folk songs.
Founded in 2003, the ensemble has performed at home and abroad. It took part in the 2003 Shanghai International Music Festival and China tour concerts with French pianist Richard Bright.
The ensemble began fortnightly performances at Shanghai Oriental Art Center in September. They will continue through February.
The musicians: Wang, 37, yangqin Ma Xianghua, 34, erhu Li Jia, 28, pipa Li Luoyang, 24, dizi and Wu Yang, 24, guzheng.
Wang, Ma and Li Jia are experienced artists who were part of the ensemble since its founding. Li Luoyang and Wu are fresh graduates from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. They joined Oriental Glamor this year.
