Xuefei Yang

I really enjoyed the big tour of Spanish Rhapsody in China last year. I am happy that Maria Vega Dancer and I will be continuing our collaboration with several concerts around the UK (& in Europe) ! The concert is a recital of Spanish music from the great masters, some accompanied by a variety of Spanish dance. Unlike a traditional flamenco show which focuses on dancing and singing, this is music accompanied by dance. Come to see if you are around ! Playing this great music with a dancer, gives a different insight to some of the music. Some of the audience mentioned that it enhanced their listening experience. We will be appearing at the Kino Theatre, Hastings on Jul 4; Cheltenham Festival on Jul 6th; Chipping Norton Theatre on Sep 5th; Madrid on Sep 13th. Full details on the schedule page of my website.

Two years ago I tried a spruce guitar by Canadian luthier Joshia de Jonge. I finally met her last week at the Cleveland festival and after the party on the last night of the festival we were trying some guitars including one of her cedar top instruments. The guitar has an interesting look and sound, and you can compare this instrument to the one I tried two years ago if you're curious. By the way, here's the clip of her spruce instrument too from two years ago : https://www.facebook.com/XuefeiYang/videos/1374225702616016/ @joshia.guitars @Armin Kelly

This interview is just out for Cleveland Classical ! Their description below also gives the answer to the first of yesterday's questions ! By the way, for the second question, the photos were in Seville & Beijing. https://clevelandclassical.com/cleveland-international-classical-guitar-festival-a-conversation-with-xuefei-yang/ Cleveland Institute of Music Guitars International

I am looking forward to returning to Cleveland International Guitar Festival for a recital this Friday, and masterclass over the weekend. If you are in detective mood, the photos below are a clue to the repertoire ... ! If you want to have a guess which cities they were taken in, leave your guess as a comment below. More details about Friday’s concert can be found here : https://www.cim.edu/concerts-events/cleveland-international-classical-guitar-festival-xuefei-yang-concert

Yesterday I finally met Damon Smallman for the first time - one of the team who made my 16 year old guitar ! I spent a nice time with Damon and Ingrid Riollot to try some guitars ! I think there are some misconceptions about Smallman guitars being only loud. The Smallman guitars have been the main guitars I have played for live performances so far - they have a large dynamic range and a broad colour palette, particularly in a big concert setting - it's all there for the player to explore.

On-stage at the Floral Pavilion last Saturday night. I played my Paul Fischer guitar for this recital - I find spruce top instruments amplify particularly well.

Entries are still open for the Changsha International Guitar Competition. First prize in the open competition is US$10,000 plus a concert tour in China in 2020. This year's set piece for the open competition is Sonata Giacosa by Rodrigo, to celebrate the life of the celebrated Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo in this 20th anniversary year. Thanks to the generous support of Fundación Victoria y Joaquín Rodrigo, this year's competition also carries an additional special prize of €500 for the best performance of a piece by Rodrigo during the competition. Competitors from all countries will be made very welcome at the festival. More info at www.guitar.org.cn

For Xuefei's fans in and around the north-west UK : "looking forward to returning to the Wirral this weekend for the International Guitar Festival of Great Britain. I'll be playing a recital at the Floral Pavilion Theatre this Saturday 25th May at 7.30pm. Hope to see some of you there !" https://www.floralpavilion.com/en-GB/shows/xuefei%20yang/info/2

I am pleased to finally announce the line up for the 2019 Changsha International Guitar Festival this summer (July 26-30) ! This year's concert artists, representing different styles of guitar playing, include : -Álvaro Pierri (Uraguay) -Marco Pereira (Brazil) -Grisha Goryachev(Russia/USA) [flamenco] -Raphael Feuillatre (France) -Alexandr MISKO Guitar (Russia) [fingerstyle] -Jihyung Park (Korea) [Changsha International Guitar Competition winner, 2018] -Xuefei Yang & Jiafeng Chen (China) [guitar and violin duo] Workshops, Classes, Presentations, judges for composition competition : -Damon Smallman (Australia) & Ingrid Riollot (France) [Smallman demonstration] -Gerald Garcia (HK/UK) [guitar ensemble] -Joel Hoffman (Canada) [composition competition final judge] -Ruixiang Yan (Taiwan) [workshop] -Dr. Kenneth Kwan (HK) [composition competition jury] Jury members also include local guitar professors and personalities : Yi Chen; Peter Fang; Qing He; Le Li; Jiajiong Li; Weiping Liang; Qingxiang Lie; Zhenqi Min; Bao Xu; Haibiao Zhao Entries are still open for the Changsha International Guitar Competition. First prize in the open competition is US$10,000 plus a concert tour in China in 2020. Competitors from all countries will be made very welcome at the festival. More info at www.guitar.org.cn This year's festival marks the 20th anniversary of the death of the celebrated Spanish composer Joaquin Rodrigo. The competition also carries an additional special prize of €500 from the The Victoria and Joaquín Rodrigo Foundation for the best performance of a piece by Rodrigo during the competition. This year's set piece for the open competition is Sonata Giacosa by Rodrigo. I look forward to welcoming you to the beautiful and historic city of Changsha this summer !

Announcing the 2019 Changsha International Guitar Composition Competition. Deadline for application is July 10th. Canadian composer Joel Hoffman & Dr. Kenneth Kwan will judge this year's competition. Prize is US$1,500 and publication of the winning piece by Dobermann Yppan/ Les Productions d’OZ. For more info pls visit www.guitar.org.cn.

I've just finished rehearsals at the National Gallery of Ireland ahead of the recital later this afternoon. Here's a clip from the Granados piece. Thanks to Marion Hyland for lending me her gorgeous guitar by Irish luthier Michael O'Leary (O'Leary Guitars) to play this recital.

Performing Schubert’s quartet for the first time later today at the National Gallery in Dublin🤗 I always wanted to play this work which is based on a trio by Matiegka- an intriguing guitarist composer whose chamber and solo works are neglected but are worth exploring.

Xuefei live in Dublin - at the magnificently restored Shaw Room at the National Gallery - 2pm tomorrow (Sunday 12th May). As well as performing music for solo guitar , Xuefei will be joined by friends from Dublin's Royal Irish Academy of Music for a colourful programme of chamber music for guitar, voice, flute and strings by composers Schubert and Falla. Tickets from €10 at https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/riamngi-international-visiting-artists-and-friends-series-tickets-58899888151 Programme Albéniz: Seville Granados: la Maja de Goya Paco Peňa: Columbianas Schubert: Quartet for Flute, Guitar, Viola and Cello Falla: Siete canciones populares españolas Enjoy an afternoon of music, and take in the art at Ireland's foremost gallery.

Bye bye Girona-really enjoyed my trip here!

I’m in Girona, rehearsing for tonight’s recital. Here’s a short clip from Zapateado by Granados. Enjoy!

Look who photo-bombed my selfie!

This is my first visit to Paros. I haven’t been to Greece for several years. The atmosphere feels really nice here. I’m looking forward to my concert tomorrow night.

Sharing some fond moments from my visit to the oud school in Abu Dhabi last week, and their local instrument making studio too.

I had a great time, my first visit to Abu Dhabi. Thanks to the CultureSummit Abu Dhabi for bringing together people from more than 80 different countries to talk about culture !

Rehearsing at the National Centre for Early Music in the city of York ! Tonight’s recital celebrates the ancient music traditions of China, contrasting with the European traditions of Spanish and German baroque.

I'll be giving a recital tomorrow (Friday 5th)at National Centre for Early Music in York ! I'll be playing some very old music from China (have a listen to the clip in Spotify below) including quite a few of my new arrangements that I will be performing for the first time ! I've been working on them for a while. If you do have a chance to come, I'm looking forward to hearing which pieces you like! Listen to Drunken Ecstasy on Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/track/7MHe2fy29ur1XlfyAlDhIe?si=GrBbauRuRn61Q0GqQBilNw More details about the concert here : https://tickets.ncem.co.uk/en-GB/shows/xuefei%20yang/events

“Vivaldi, etc!” - a brand-new recording by John Williams is now available on pre-order ! The official release date is the end of March. I am looking forward to listening to it, especially having heard him play some of this live in concert ! http://www.johnwilliamsguitarnotes.com/recordings/recordings.html

Thanks to Classical Guitar Magazine for featuring the lovely music of Dilermando Reis as their video pick this week ! The article contains some information about the composer and the piece! http://classicalguitarmagazine.com/video-pick-of-the-week-xuefei-yang-plays-dilermando-reis-xodo-da-baiana

Here's a piece I like very much, and I am sharing it with you on the birthday of J.S. Bach. I hope you like this transcription for guitar and string quartet (performed here by the wonderful Elias String Quartet). May it bring you joy too ! Youtube : https://youtu.be/UmvVlbScVTs Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/track/6aER1cn1oiuFMwiE2bWWvG?si=b943FLv3Rw-hy8R-ylBDDg

Happy birthday to Ernesto Narazareth, the Brazilian pianist and composer, born this day in 1863 ! I enjoy playing this brilliant transcription (by the late Brazilian player Raphael Rabello) of one of his famous piano pieces, Odeon. I hope you enjoy it too ! Spotify : https://open.spotify.com/track/6f2BpaPLoZOw5GXJVakcTv?si=Ny_oceGMSlysLWTflvbaTg Youtube : https://youtu.be/2TbEkXSLZYw