New sounds for ancient instrument

On a summer night in August, 2,000 people filed into a concert hall in Hamburg, Germany, looking forward to a performance by a local jazz musician Joja Wendt. What they didn't expect, was to be blown away by a guest performer from China, Feng Mantian and his ruan, a Chinese plucked-string instrument with a history of over 2,000 years.

When Feng finished the last note of his original composition, Tian Gao Yun Dan, or Sky High Clouds Light, the audience paused for a moment, before erupting into applause, giving the musician a long standing ovation. Feng later jammed with the band and pianist Wendt, which had the crowd standing up and stamping their feet.

"It felt like the whole venue was about to collapse. I have never been so crazy onstage," recalls the 52-year-old ruan master. "I can speak neither English nor German so I screamed loudly onstage to express my gratitude and excitement."

Feng had been waiting for that moment for a long time. He has been a member of the China National Orchestra for 37 years and it has long been his dream to let Western audiences listen to traditional Chinese music with a modern twist.

"Many of my friends who are living abroad said traditional Chinese music is just the background music of restaurants in the West and tunes such as Jasmine Flower and Blossom on Spring Moonlight Night have been played there for decades," Feng says. "I felt ashamed when they asked me what traditional Chinese music sounds like today."

With a pair of round glasses and prayer beads around his neck, Feng, who is a Buddhist, is considered a "ruan addict". He sometimes waves his hands in air, as if he were playing an invisible ruan, without even knowing he is doing it.

For years, he has been striving to compose new works and experiment with the ruan, such as borrowing techniques from other plucked-string instruments, like guitar, sitar and dombra. He also visited luthiers to invent new type of ruan, which cost a lot of money.

Along with jazz pianist Kong Hongwei, founder member Chinese jazz band Golden Buddha, bass ruan player Chen Xiaohu and percussionist Shao Haha, Feng will perform in Beijing to display his works－of which he is particularly proud－including Sky High Clouds Light, 28 Years and Ji.