Chapter 278 The Folk Orchestra of Hidden Dragon and Crouching Tiger

"When does rehearsal start?" Zhou Yan asked.

Now that he has decided to take on this job, Zhou Yan is concerned about rehearsals. It is best to arrange his time well to avoid conflicts with his other work.

In fact, apart from rehearsals, the time for general rehearsals is relatively easy to adjust.

Yang Dongsheng smiled and said, "If there is no problem with you, I will take you to meet with the folk band. Rehearsal will start at any time."

"Who is in charge of the folk orchestra for this show?"

"Commander He Jianguo."

When he heard that He Jianguo was in charge, Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Oh, it's Senior Brother He."

Many folk orchestras from top to bottom graduated from Yangyin, including He Jianguo, who graduated from the folk music department in 1977. Although Zhou Yan was not familiar with him, he had met him several times.

He Jianguo first entered the Department of Folk Music to study Chinese and Western percussion, and later studied conducting with Wu Lingfen. After graduation, he went directly to the folk orchestra and has been a veteran of the folk orchestra for more than ten years.

"There are many people in the folk orchestra who are from Yangyin University. You should be familiar with them in the past."

In fact, not only the folk orchestra, but also most of the music-related units in Yanjing have many alumni of Zhou Yan.

Zhou Yan nodded, "Okay, I'll go to the folk band later."

"If you can connect directly, that would definitely be the best." Yang Dongsheng said.

"Well, I'll go take a look first. By the way, what's the structure of this year's program? What's the ratio between language and singing and dancing? Are there any other performance programs?"

Yang Dongsheng smiled and said, "I'm sorry, Director Zhou, it's really inconvenient to disclose this information now, but you can see it later in the series."

"Understood." Zhou Yan also expressed understanding.

"By the way, Director Zhou, I have to sign a confidentiality agreement later."

"no problem."

…

The next morning, Zhou Yan went to the Central Chinese Orchestra.

He went to find He Jianguo first.

He Jianguo had received news from Yang Dongsheng in advance, so he naturally knew what Zhou Yan was here for. The two exchanged a few words, and He Jianguo took Zhou Yan to meet the members of the folk music orchestra.

On the way, He Jianguo told Zhou Yan, "Many of the orchestra members are from our school. You may know Tang Feng and Wang Ciheng. They are quite close to you."

"I know Tang Feng. He is one year above me. He is a erhu player."

"As for Wang Ciheng, although we have no relationship, I have heard of his name."

He Jianguo nodded, "Yes, you are also learning the bamboo flute, just like Wang Ciheng."

Wang Ciheng is quite famous in the bamboo flute world. He seems to have studied with Lu Chunling for a while.

"Well, Senior Brother Wang is still quite active."

The two quickly walked to the concert hall. Today's folk orchestra concert hall is not only shabby, but also very small. It is far behind the concert hall of Yangyin, let alone other regular concert halls.

You know, the concert hall of the folk orchestra is open to the public, and there are usually performances, but in such an environment, it is really difficult to do anything. There is a performance in a place like this, and people buy tickets to come in, which makes them feel uncomfortable.

It is easy to renovate this concert hall. Spending one or two million can give the concert hall a new look. However, the Chinese orchestra itself is not as valued as the ballet company, so it will definitely not be able to apply for funds.

It is also difficult for them to raise funds themselves. The audience for traditional music performances is small. Most of them are more willing to listen to Western symphonies and are less willing to spend money on folk music performances.

Therefore, it is difficult for the folk orchestra to perform commercially. Not to mention making money, it is impossible to keep the salaries of the performers. They are a loss-making unit.

He Jianguo also knew that his group's concert hall could not be purchased, so he said with a smile, "We are already submitting an application to renovate the concert hall."

Zhou Yan shook his head secretly. Applying is one thing, and whether the superiors approve it is another matter. Even if there is funding from the superiors, other units must be granted first, and the folk orchestra can be thought of last.

The renovation of the concert hall of their folk orchestra may not be something that can be completed in the next few years. Perhaps when the country's economic conditions improve and folk music becomes more popular in the country, there will be hope for renovation.

At the same time, he also sighed. The most nourishing group in the country now is the folk band of the Piano Youth Orchestra.

The folk band of the Piano Youth Orchestra can at least guarantee stable performances. Now their personnel allowances can basically be covered by performance income, and Zhou Yan will not have to pay them.

"Everything will get better and better."

Zhou Yan comforted him, and then followed He Jianguo into the concert hall.

The folk band is not rehearsing at the moment, and a group of people are gathering together to discuss something.

He Jianguo coughed lightly, "Everyone, welcome Director Zhou."

Others looked over one after another. Tang Feng, who had more contact with Zhou Yan, said with a smile, "Hey, Junior Brother Zhou Yan is here."

Zhou Yan also smiled and replied, "Senior Brother Tang, long time no see."

"Yeah, let's meet once after I graduate."

"seems like it."

"You guys can reminisce about old times later." He Jianguo smiled, "Zhou Yan, let me introduce you to the members of our folk band. I won't introduce Tang Feng. You know him. The person next to him is Wang Ciheng, the band's bamboo flute soloist. ”

Zhou Yan smiled and greeted, "Hello, Senior Brother Wang."

"Hello."

"This is Wei Yuru, played by Si Zhongruan."

…

There were more than a dozen people at the scene, and He Jianguo did not mind the trouble to introduce Zhou Yan one by one.

After introducing them all, He Jianguo said, "I have already told you the general situation before. We will rehearse "Memories of the Forbidden City" together in a while. Zhou Yan is the author of this song. His participation will definitely be of great benefit to our rehearsal. If you have any questions, you can also ask Zhou Yan for advice."

Zhou Yan waved his hands repeatedly, "I dare not ask for advice, I can only say that we are learning from each other. Although I wrote the song, you are the experts in performance. Director Yang called me and asked me to cooperate with our group to produce a program. I am personally honored and terrified. Some friends may not know that I have been learning bamboo flute since I was a child. I have regarded joining the folk music orchestra as my goal since I was a child, but later I went to the composition department, and this dream could not continue. This time, I can join the folk music orchestra, which is also another form of dream fulfillment."

"Why don't you come to our orchestra as a composer." Tang Feng joked.

He Jianguo rolled his eyes at Tang Feng, "Zhou Yan is staying in the school to teach and educate people, you are poaching the school's talents."

"I dare not, I dare not."

He Jianguo looked at Zhou Yan again, "The score has not been finalized yet, but the orchestra has arranged a version of "Memories of the Forbidden City" before. My idea is to follow that version, so that everyone is familiar with it and there is no need to make more adjustments. What do you think?"

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I have no problem. In this program, I am just a performer. Brother He still needs to worry about the score and instrumentation."

Although Zhou Yan is the original author, there is no need to steal He Jianguo's work. He himself is not very familiar with the people in the orchestra. If he intervenes too much, he will definitely be annoying.

He Jianguo nodded, "We still need to see the layout of the Spring Festival Gala studio to determine the position."

"No problem."

"Today is your first time here, so let's not rehearse. Let's get familiar with each other first. In fact, many of your songs are very popular in our group. Let's not talk about "Memories of the Forbidden City". They have basically practiced the songs in "Mysterious Country."

At this time, Wang Ciheng smiled and said, "Not only that, I also practiced Brother Zhou's "Fragrance Floating", which is very interesting to play."

The "Fragrance Floating" suite was Zhou Yan's previous semester work. It is a bamboo flute concerto, which requires very high skills for bamboo flute. It is difficult for those with poor skills to complete it.

"I am really flattered."

"I was thinking at the time that being able to write this song to play shows that your bamboo flute level is already very high."

"Brother Wang is flattering me. Compared with you, I still have a lot to learn."

Zhou Yan was really not modest this time. Although he is talented and has been learning bamboo flute since he was a child, he has been much lax in studying bamboo flute since college.

As a student of composition, he has too many subjects and it is difficult for him to master a single instrument. He is definitely not comparable to Wang Ciheng, who has been immersed in bamboo flute for many years.

"Zhou Yan, you are still too modest." He Jianguo smiled, "Since we are all experienced, let's not just talk about it. Let's play a few instruments. Do you want me to prepare a bamboo flute for you?"

"No, I brought my own."

Zhou Yan came with a bag with two bamboo flutes in it.

He didn't know what the situation was today, so he must bring his equipment.

After taking out a bamboo flute, everyone started to play a piece with their own instruments.

Those present were also very respectful and played Zhou Yan's songs.

Zhou Yan and Wang Ciheng both played a piece of "Fragrance in the Dark". Facts have proved that Zhou Yan is indeed not as good as Wang Ciheng, not just a little bit worse, but a level worse.

Zhou Yan was very calm about this. He never thought that he could be better than Wang Ciheng.

After Wang Ciheng finished playing, he couldn't help but applaud, "Although I wrote this piece, today Senior Brother Wang made me recognize it again."

This piece was written by Zhou Yan to show off his skills, but to be honest, Zhou Yan himself did not tap the full potential of this piece.

And Wang Ciheng is the person who has played this piece with the highest level so far.

Therefore, Zhou Yan has such a feeling.

Hearing Zhou Yan's words, He Jianguo couldn't help but nod.

He was not familiar with Zhou Yan, and had only met him a few times, but after this contact, he found that Zhou Yan was a broad-minded person, who was very calm in dealing with people, neither ostentatious nor deliberate.

Faced with Zhou Yan's praise, Wang Ciheng was also very happy. Although Zhou Yan was younger than him and was his junior, the piece "Fragrance Floating" was written by Zhou Yan. As a performer, it was a proud thing to be recognized by the composer.

"Brother Zhou, you are too kind."

Zhou Yan waved his hand, "Not at all. After listening to your performance, I even have a bold idea."

"Bold idea?" Wang Ciheng was stunned.

"In December, the Piano Youth Orchestra plans to have two performances in the United States. I want to borrow Brother Wang to play this song "Fragrance in the Sky."

Not only Wang Ciheng was stunned, but everyone else was stunned. This was the first time they met, and Zhou Yan actually started to ask their band to borrow someone.

But this borrowing of someone is a good opportunity for their band.

In recent years, there have been basically no opportunities for Chinese folk bands to perform abroad. Although the band has always had this idea, it has been difficult to implement.

Wang Ciheng was naturally very surprised. After all, being able to perform abroad was a good opportunity for him.

"Secret Fragrance Floating" is a bamboo flute concerto. He is the protagonist. He showed his face during the performance, but he did not show the surprise.

On the one hand, he is relatively reserved, and on the other hand, as a member of the band, work matters are not something he can decide by himself.

It was He Jianguo who helped and said, "This is a good thing, but you still have to apply with the group."

Zhou Yan nodded, "I know this. If there are no performance tasks in the group in December, I will apply to the group. After all, I can't delay your own work."

"Except for the Spring Festival Gala rehearsal, there is no other special work in December."

"Okay, I understand." Zhou Yan smiled, looked at Wei Yuru next to him, and said, "I was also very surprised by the "Missing Through Time" played by Sister Yuru in Zhongruan just now."

Faced with Zhou Yan's praise, Wei Yuru leaned forward while holding her pipa, and said with a smile: "You're flattered."

Seeing Wei Yuru's frown and smile, Zhou Yan couldn't help but sigh, this pipa player's temperament is really extraordinary.

When we were chatting just now, Wei Yuru said that she joined the folk band at the age of 21, and it has been fourteen years now.

In other words, she is thirty-five years old this year, but she looks less than thirty and looks very young. Moreover, her facial features are very regular, and she looks like an ancient beauty while holding the pipa.

Of course, good-looking is secondary. Wei Yuru's Zhongruan level is very high. It can be said that she is the highest-level pipa player Zhou Yan has ever come across in real life.

"Missing Through Time and Space" was played by her in zhongruan, and the atmosphere came out immediately.

In addition to Wang Ciheng, Zhou Yan also had an idea for Wei Yuru. Borrowing one is also borrowing, and borrowing two is also borrowing. If Wei Yuru is also borrowed to participate in the concert in the United States, it will also be a highlight of the concert.

However, Zhou Yan didn't mention it on the spot. He just praised it and said nothing more.

After that, Zhou Yan asked a lot of things from the musicians at the scene. With so many masters present, wouldn't it be a waste of opportunity if he didn't take the opportunity to learn something?

And because of his asking for advice, everyone at the scene also discovered that Zhou Yan had such a wide range of interests, and he knew every musical instrument at the scene.

He is not simply someone who can make sounds, but can actually play the music, which can be said to be a beginner at least.

Zhou Yan definitely doesn't have much time to spend on these instruments, so it means that Zhou Yan is extremely talented in musical instruments and can become familiar with an instrument in only a short time.

They also sighed in their hearts, as expected, talented composers like Zhou Yan have special abilities.

If Zhou Yan didn't take the path of composition, he would still have a future as a performer.

Of course, between composers and performers, most people are still more inclined to be composers, and many performers will also try to create their own compositions in the middle and later stages.

After all, everyone knows that a composer's works are expected to be immortal, but it is difficult for a simple performer to leave a name in history.

Talents have emerged from generation to generation, and performers have changed one after another, but the classic compositions have remained the same.

Therefore, no one felt it was a pity that Zhou Yan did not continue to move forward in the music field.

…

After communicating with the orchestra members for nearly two hours, Zhou Yan stood up and left.

However, he did not leave the folk orchestra, but followed He Jianguo to find the leader Yu Songlin. After sending Zhou Yan to him, He Jianguo didn't stay and left directly.

Zhou Yan exchanged a few pleasantries with Yu Songlin, and then directly proposed that he wanted to borrow Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

When he heard that Zhou Yan wanted to borrow someone, Yu Songlin was very happy. He just asked about the approximate time and made a decision directly.

"Borrow, don't just borrow two, you can borrow all of our group, no problem."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "I definitely won't need to borrow so many people this time."

Yu Songlin immediately heard the implication of Zhou Yan's words, "You mean, you want to borrow it later?"

"I will definitely borrow more, but how much and how I will borrow is not yet certain."

Yu Songlin narrowed his eyes, "No problem. If you want to borrow someone, just tell me in advance. Don't catch us off guard."

"Captain, please rest assured about this."

The two chatted for a while, and Yu Songlin suddenly said, "Yu Jia is in your group, causing you trouble."

"Yu Jia?" Zhou Yan was stunned for a moment and did not react immediately.

Yu Songlin smiled and said, "Yu Jia is my daughter."

Zhou Yan was very surprised to hear that Yu Jia was Yu Songlin's daughter, because he didn't know about it at all.

Yu Jia is a member of the Piano Orchestra and the Folk Band. She has just entered her junior year and is also the backbone of the Folk Band.

This Yu Jia is too low-key. His father is the leader of the folk band, but he doesn't show any signs of it.

"No wonder Yu Jia's Zhongruan level is so high. It turns out he has a family education."

Yu Songlin waved his hand, "She still has a lot to learn. I hope Teacher Zhou will give her more encouragement."

"Yu Jia performed very well and is already the chief pipa player of the band."

Yu Songlin was quite happy to hear Zhou Yan praising his daughter. He said with a smile, "If Yu Jia hadn't become the chief, I would be embarrassed to tell you this."

Zhou Yan nodded. If Yu Jia was not the chief pipa player and Yu Songlin revealed their relationship at this time, then Zhou Yan would be wondering if Yu Songlin had any ideas.

Now that Yu Jia is already the chief, Zhou Yan has no way to give higher "care", so it becomes much normal for Yu Songlin to break up the relationship. (End of chapter)