Acoustic guitar lovers can hear music ranging from classical Baroque-style melodies to Japanese pop tune covers tomorrow night, when Golden Melody award-winning guitarist Dong Yun-chang (董運昌) and mandolin player Chen Ya-hui (陳雅慧) perform at Suho Paper Museum (樹火紀念紙博物館).
The musical duo released a joint album of original compositions influenced by different European and Asian music traditions titled Napoli Blue Night (那不勒斯藍色夜) in January.
“For covers of pop songs, we arrange the music so the mandolin plays the melody. It gives the song a different flavor,” says Dong, whose albums Urban Meditation (城市冥想) and At the 33rd Street Corner (第33個街角轉彎) both won Golden Melody awards. Dong runs a music production company called Play Ear (玩耳音樂), which recently signed its first artist, fellow acoustic guitarist Koumis (蓓麗).
Though he is known for his classical guitar skills, Dong draws inspiration from a wide range of musical genres. “You really have to spend a lot of time studying classical guitar and I don’t have the time to do that, so I say that my music is classical-inspired,” he says.
At university, Dong played folk music before switching his focus to country music, prompted in part by his admiration for Chet Atkins. Now he counts classical guitarists Michael Hedges, Andres Segovia, Narciso Yepes and Pierre Bensusan among his heroes. Dong also frequently performs on pop records; the different influences add up to the clean, smooth sound and gentle yet lively melodies that are his musical trademark.
Dong and Chen’s performance tomorrow is part of The Season When Dreams Take Off (夢想起飛的季節), Suho’s 15th anniversary celebration, which runs through Oct. 23. For more information, go to www.suhopaper.org.tw/paperplane.
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