The Exquisite Combination of Traditional Chinese Music and Innovative Contemporary Music

Randy Raine-Reusch is a Canadian composer and improvisor, and the founder and artistic director of the Rainforest Festival, a world music festival in Malaysia. Mei Han is a Chinese guzheng master and ethnomusicologist, and has developed a wide range of musical activities based on traditional Chinese music. They have combined traditional Chinese music and aesthetics with those of new music, world music, and jazz to create a new, radical repertoire. Mei's musical roots in traditional Chinese music are combined with the innovative contemporary music of Randy, who is a improvisor as well as multi-instrumentalist. The festival stage will showcase the genre-crossing performance of this globally-active duo. Commentary by Kim Hee-sun, the chairperson of Executive Committee of the festival, will help audiences better understand their performance.