Holland Baroque likes to share the stage with playful, inspiring musicians. Composer and improviser WU Wei is such a musician.WU Wei can do everything with the sheng, the Chinese mouth organ that represents three thousand years of Chinese music culture and that is a miracle of harmony, melody and rhythmic possibilities.

 

 

Why does a baroque orchestra meet a sheng player?
The actual encounter of orchestra and musical guest always takes place in the field of a shared sound world. Holland Baroque and WU Wei connect the beautiful sheng sound with baroque music and hear that old traditions and exotic instruments can produce new stories.

 

The result is a concert of new and old compositions that tells one thing in particular: Music is alive and continues to be so when creative spirits leap upon music that still has a huge power of expressiveness today. Whether that is music from Western or Eastern cultures, composed or improvised music is no longer relevant.

 

"Sheng means hope and hope is life," says WU Wei. He is a modern musician who carries out an ancient tradition. It’s no coincidence that on WU Wei’s sheng case a sticker is stuck with his motto: "Gutesbleibt, neueskommt”. A motto that Holland Baroque can relate to very well. Cherish what needs to be preserved and be open to new sounds. Because Holland Baroque thinks old music does not exist. The music is only finished when you play it.

 

 

WU Wei, Sheng Virtuose and Professor at Shanghai Music Conservatory, studied at Shanghai Music Conservatory and Hanns Eisler Academy with a DAAD scholarship in Berlin, where he is now based. He has helped to develop the ancient instrument into an innovative force in contemporary music.

 

He has given the world premieres of over 300 works (10 concertos for sheng) by composers such as Unsuk Chin, Jukka Tiensuu, Enjott Schneider, Toshio Hosokawa, Joerg Widmann, etc.

 

 

The world of baroque music is a gold mine for composers, avant-gardists, adventurers and realists. It is this world of luxury in which Holland Baroque thrives. With its captivating productions, the ensemble convinces a large audience of the flexibility and vitality of baroque and other styles of music.

 

The coming season Holland Baroque is delighted to share the stage with Giovanni Sollima, LeszekMozdzer, Reinbert de Leeuw, DorotheeMields, Maartje van de Wetering, Dutch Chamber Choir and many others.