Award-winning performer-composer-instrumentalist Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ’s Stanford Live “Harps of Asia” concerts with three renowned Asian zither masters this week represent the culmination of a 20-year dream.
Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ & Blood Moon Orchestra’s two performances on Jan. 17 in Stanford’s Bing Concert Hall Studio showcase virtuoso stringed instrumentalists: Võ on the Vietnamese dan tranh, Hwayoung Shon on the Korean gayageum, Shirley Muramoto on the Japanese koto and Winnie Wong on the Chinese guzheng. The 70-minute show offers traditional and new music that reflects the performers’ rich heritage.
“At my concerts, I always want the audience to take a journey with the musicians through the cultures, feelings and stories,” said the Bay Area-based Võ in a recent interview one day after returning from a trip to Asia.
Surprisingly energetic although jet lagged, Võ added, “We feature each master and instrument with a solo song, then we play together, and with the ensemble. Each master not only plays on their showcased instrument but plays two other instruments to show and explain how new music expands on their traditions.”
The one-of-a-kind event is the result of serendipitous timing, deliberate planning, essential financial support and Võ’s visionary zeal.
In addition to celebrating history and traditional music, Võ—who has collaborated with Kronos Quartet, Yo-Yo Ma and the Oakland Symphony, among many ensembles— wrote original compositions for each musician, aimed at pushing them beyond their comfort zone.
She explains, “The traditional roots are there, but a master artist can take that music to the time we are living in right now. Instead of just showing the traditional, they make the music more relatable to audiences today.”
Võ, who participated in scoring the regional Emmy Award-winning “Bolinao 52,” a 2008 documentary about Vietnamese boat people, says no one has written new music for four Asian zithers, until now: “I had to do it. I have dreamed of this project for 20-plus years. I am able to do it only because we have all four masters in the same area, I got support from my board, and Stanford Live presented the work. It’s the right things happening at the right time.”
That doesn’t mean the process was easy. The first hurdle to clear was mental. She says, “I couldn’t picture it until I thought of the string quartet as the model. Like that model, our instruments have different registers and colors. We have the bass, mid-range and higher sounds. That is when I started to believe it would work.”
Võ met with all members of the ensemble to learn about their cultures, playing techniques, individual styles and relationships to contemporary society. “It’s not like I could just sit down and write the music. I had to understand the strengths and difficulties of their instruments, what it takes for them to play new music. I watched and listened to much of their music, including the songs they love most that I asked them to send,” she says.
After extensive research, Võ composed short pieces for each, joining them in rehearsals to “get into their heads” and witness how they responded to new music. Together, they “free played” the pieces and developed a way of notating the scores. She says, “I am learning just like they are. … I have to learn new things about each instrument, take the influences of their traditions, and be influenced by their style in the music I write. I have to work outside of my comfort zone also.”
Võ says the best way to appreciate the unique properties of the four zithers is to do what she did: learn from the masters.
Initially hesitant to expound on the special nature of the instruments other than her own, she eventually offers a few clues: “I think of them in this case as sisters because we have all female masters onstage. Each has different sound qualities, colors and characteristics that reflect their own culture. For example, my Vietnamese dan tranh is very high-pitched. The 16 strings are metal and we use the left hand to bend bottom notes to reflect the accents in our language. Our language has six different accents, and the left hand creates the vibra-tones and slides that happen in change of tone when we speak.”
The difference between string length and thickness and hand placement relative to the bridge also results in differentiation. Võ’s instrument’s higher, softer sound produced by the metal strings contrasts with the other three nylon-string zithers. The sister instruments provide a thicker, deeper sound and establish the quartet’s mid- and low-range voices.
“The material for our picks and how we use them also varies, and on the Korean gayageum, the musician plays with bare fingers. They use their fingernails and pluck it. They actually flick on the string, so it’s attacked in a different way. They play close to the bridge, which creates a different sound also. People just have to come, and they will see and hear it.”
“Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ & Blood Moon Orchestra: Harps of Asia” is at 7 and 9 p.m. Jan. 17 in The Studio, Bing Concert Hall, 327 Lasuen St., Stanford University. Tickets are $15-$45 at live.stanford.edu.
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