Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

Hope you all had a restful weekend. Late spring and early summer is among my favorite times in Nashville. The bugs are not fully out yet. Wild fruits are starting to show up in the forest. I ate one wild blackberry on the hill today (photo above). It was still sour, though I loved the strong flavor that only wild fruit can give to your taste buds. It instantly woke me up from a somewhat sleepy head. The wild blackberry reminds me of a poem from the Northern Song Dynasty in China (1002-1060 CE):

《舟中行自采枸杞子》宋 · 梅尧臣

野岸竟多杞，小实霜且丹。系舟聊以掇，粲粲忽盈盘。助吾苦羸苶，岂必采琅玕。自异骄华人，百金求秘丸。昔闻王子乔，上帝降玉棺。

English Translation“Picking Wolfberries from the Boat”by Mei Yaochen (Song Dynasty)

Along the wild bank grow many wolfberry shrubs,Their small fruits, touched by frost, turn a brilliant red.

I tie my boat and pause to gather them,Soon bright and gleaming, they fill my plate.

They ease my weary, weakened state—Why must I seek the pearl-tree of the immortals?

I am not like those who flaunt their wealth,Spending a hundred gold on secret elixirs.

In ancient times, I heard of Prince Wangzi Qiao—Heaven itself, they say, sent down a jade coffin for him.”

Hope this guzheng night song start your week with a joyful moment.

Wu Fei 吴非

wufeimuic.com

wufeimusic.bandcamp.com

Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

This instrument is the valiha — a tube zither from Madagascar 🇲🇬

I’ve never quite figured out how to hold it comfortably. As a guzheng (古筝) musician and pianist, I’m used to having my fingers free while playing.

Today, I finally found a way to play the valiha without having to hold it with my hands.

With the birds chirping and my neighbor cutting the lawn in the background in Nashville, I improvised this little song. Keeping my eyes closed while playing liberated my mind — my heart felt closer to my fingers, and I could truly feel the sensation between my fingertips and the thin metal strings, as well as the sound vibrations from the bamboo body against my forehead.

A little background on how these valihas came to me:

They are gifts from my dear friend Professor Tasha Rijke-Epstein. She teaches history at Vanderbilt University, and her main research field is Madagascar history and culture. When she found out that I’m a composer, musician, and string player, she showed me her valiha — which had been sitting in her house for many years, unplayed. I immediately started playing and making songs on it. She wanted me to have it right away. Then she brought me another one from her work trip to Madagascar.

There is an author named Raharimanana Jean Luc from Madagascar (Tasha’s colleague) who has released a new book called Return (link here). Jean Luc is also a valiha master.

@uklelebob1 on Substack sent me this video of a master musician from Madagascar playing three different valihas anbd singing to it. Very inspiring:Watch here

Watching this valiha musician gives me so many ideas about what’s possible — plucking techniques, patterns and styles, and new tunings. I also learned that the valiha is a cousin to the Sasando (from Indonesia); both are Austronesian bamboo tube zithers, connected across two sides of the Indian Ocean.

I’ve been fascinated by the world’s string instruments, their history, and their connections. It’s such a fun way to learn history and get closer to the truth. Knowing how many beautiful things humans have invented that have helped each other through countless difficult times — it really makes me feel hopeful that we, humans, can make something beautiful that will outlast the ugliness with time. 😃

I want to share my appreciation to all the paid and free subscribers! The very recent ones and the ones who’ve been with me from May 2020 when I started my first substack post! Thank YOU!!!

Wu Fei 吴非

wufeimusic.com

wufeimusic.bandcamp.com

Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

I just did a guzheng improvisation. I was inspired by a small hatched egg I found on my driveway a few days ago (photo above.) While I was improvising, I was wondering what happened to the chick - did the parent bird take it away to hide it? Did the chick leave on its own? Or did a predator break the egg and eat the chick?

Hope this piece brings a moment of joy into your weekend!

Wu Fei 吴非

Wufeimusic.com

Wufeimusic.bandcamp.com

Wu Fei's Music Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

This two-track prepared guzheng night song was recorded today. Last month, I played two concerts at the Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee in the U.S. It was my third time playing at this amazing festival. Photographer Cora Wagoner took my photos when I debuted at this festival in 2017. Her photos have remained some of my favorite moments in my solo career. I was lucky enough to have her take photos again last month, nine years later. I will share more of her beautiful work in my future posts.

Prepared guzheng is an experimental technique where objects such as shells, ceramics, or tools are placed on or between the strings to alter the instrument’s timbre, creating unique, percussive, or metallic sounds. In this piece, I clipped metal keychain rings to the strings. This technique is inspired by John Cage’s prepared piano and is used to expand the instrument’s range of sounds.

Hope this track brings you sweet dreams tonight.

Wu Fei 吴非

wufeimusic.com

wufeimusic.bandcamp.com

Wu Fei's Music Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Improvising on a mini valiha, a tube zither from Madagascar. A full size valiha is twice as long. This little one is a gift from my mother-in-law :) Playing the valiha makes me miss Africa.

Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

Today, I recorded a guzheng solo improvisation inspired by the wild pink azalea in the forest near my home in Nashville. They look innocently beautiful and smell incredible — but here’s the twist: the wild pink azalea is highly toxic to humans and animals, including the honey made from its flowers. This “mad honey” can cause poisoning if consumed. So, as lovely as they are, it’s only safe to admire them from a distance :)

Hope this piece brings you a moment of joy!

Wu Fei 吴非

Wufeimusic.com

Wufeimusic.bandcamp.com

Wu Fei's Music Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

Today, I recorded another piece for valiha and voice—an improvisation. In the past, I’ve talked a bit about the valiha’s history: it’s a tube zither from Madagascar, made from a species of local bamboo, and is considered the country’s national instrument.

Recently, I came across a theory that the valiha may have been “inherited from King David,” as part of a larger origin narrative about the Jewish provenance of the Malagasy people. There’s a lot of reading out there on this cultural and historical connection. I love how much I’ve learned about humanity simply through my passion for instruments from around the world.

It’s much easier to rewrite / alter history with words than to change how to make an instrument. So much truth from human history is carried within musical instruments that often don’t align with written or oral history.

Hope this piece brings you sweet dreams!

Wu Fei 吴非

Wufeimusic.com

Wufeimusic.bandcamp.com

Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

I composed this three-voice guzheng canon. I was inspired by the memory when my ferry passed by the Waitematā Harbor in Auckland, New Zealand ten days ago. These giant metal crane arms looked like three singers to me. The ocean is their concert hall. The reflection is their song.

The word canon in a contrapuntal compositional technique where a melody (the "leader") is imitated by one or more voices (the "follower") after a given duration. It is a strict form of composition where the second part mimics the first, sometimes at different intervals, creating a layered, interwoven sound. In 14th and 15th century Europe, canon was very popular. Later, composers started to develop non-strict canon, such as mirror canon, table canon, double canon, rhythmic canon, proportional canon, inversion canon etc.. The list keeps on going. What a fascinating world of canons :) Hope this piece brings you a joyful moment!

Wu Fei 吴非

Check out my Bandcamp: Wufeimusic.bandcamp.com for purchases:

My albums are available on Bandcamp:

* A Distant Youth (recorded in Parma and Venice, Italy and Oakland, California)

featuring Fred Frith 🇬🇧 (acoustic & electric guitars),

Carla Kilhlstedt 🇺🇸 (violin),

Helge A. Norbakken 🇳🇴 (percussion)

* Pluck (recorded in Brooklyn, NY)

Wu Fei and Gyan Riley (classical guitar)

Thank you for your support!

Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

How have you been?

I’ve just returned home to the U.S. after visiting my family in New Zealand. Thank you for your patience and understanding during my absence — I needed that time to focus on being with my loved ones. The vast ocean has never made our reunions easy, so this trip meant the world to me.

On the day I left Auckland, it was my parent-in-laws’ 60th wedding anniversary. I’m so happy that I got to play music for them and their close friends while I was there.

Today’s guzheng piece is called “The Five‑Ring Love.”

In Chinese culture, every twelve years is one lún (轮) — a cycle. Sixty years make five lún.

Sixty years ago, they married in a Fire Horse year — fierce and bright. Now, in another Fire Horse year, their love is as deep as ever.

I named this piece “Five‑Ring Love” because their sixty years together are like five perfect cycles of twelve — five rounds of the zodiac, five laps around the sun’s great calendar.

And just as the Olympic rings stand for endurance, excellence, and unity, they too are champions of a lifetime walked side by side.

The Chinese title of this piece is “在地愿为连理枝.”

在天愿作比翼鸟，在地愿为连理枝。

Direct translation:

In heaven, we wish to be two birds flying wing to wing;

on earth, two trees with branches intertwined from one root.

This couplet comes from the Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi (白居易, 772–846 CE). He wrote his most famous poem, “Song of Everlasting Sorrow” (长恨歌), in 806 CE.

Wu Fei 吴非

Wufeimusic.com

Wu Fei's Music Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Good morning, afternoon, and evening,

How are you doing, my dear subscribers? Thank you all for your patience and support! I hope you all had a restful and fun weekend!

I’ve returned from playing at the Big Ears Music Festival in Knoxville, Tennessee. I had a wonderful time presenting two different concerts during the festival. The photo above is from my first concert — Wu Fei and Shanir Blumenkranz. The second concert, in the photo below, was at the First Presbyterian Sanctuary—photo by an audience member who sent it to me from Instagram. Both cathedrals had amazing acoustics, and I felt transcended to a different time and space while playing. Both concerts were full house, and I received standing ovations at the end. It was incredible. I always prefer not to use any amplification when I play in venues like these. When I am transformed sonically into a different being, I create something new.

At the beginning of my solo concert, I spotted my teacher from Mills College, Fred Frith, sitting in the audience. (Fred gave two performances too at this year’s Big Ears Festival.) That he chose my concert out of two hundred performances throughout the four-day festival meant the world to me. Without Fred’s guidance when I was a young composer, I wouldn’t have the career I have today. I got emotional on stage and started tearing up, wanting to give Fred a deep bow and a big hug. I also saw David Byrne (of Talking Heads) sitting in the audience. I was surprised and in awe. I remember when I played Big Ears for the first time in 2017—now, to my third time playing this festival a few days ago—I have grown so much and gained so many experiences. Yet the excitement of sharing my newest material with the audience has never changed. I’m sure I’ll be back to this festival with many more new projects that are in the making.

I hope today’s new guzheng piece takes you to a new place too.

As this newsletter is being sent to you, I’m also getting ready for my next journey leaving tomorrow —New Zealand. I’ve been missing my family members in the South Pacific. I’ll continue sharing my daily music on Substack’s Notes app since I won’t be bringing my recording gear this time. I’ll be sharing both audio and video with you all on Substack Notes. My regular newsletter will resume after April 14.

See you all soon on Substack Notes from New Zealand!

Wu Fei 吴非

Wufeimusic.com

Wu Fei's Music Daily is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.