East Meets West

In 2000, enthralled movie-goers held their breaths as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon unfolded in American theaters. The original film score won composer Tan Dun an Oscar and a Grammy — groundbreaking feats for Chinese instrumental music. Since then, the floodgates have burst open in the United States and beyond, and contemporary Chinese instrumental music is securing its place in the international music scene.

Western music’s initial intermingling with the East occurred centuries ago. China's first contact dates back to 1601, when a visiting Italian Jesuit played a spinet for the imperial court; by the late 1800s, the Chinese had developed a musical notation based on European scale degrees. The arrival of exiled Russian and Jewish musicians in Shanghai enabled China’s business and intellectual classes to learn Western music. Decades later, the end of the Cultural Revolution marked an explosion of Western music in China, as well as the appearance of Chinese musicians globally as they emigrated west.

Today, many contemporary Chinese instrumental artists have become household names. In 2004, the Twelve Girls Band reached No. 1 on the Billboard World Music album chart and claimed the highest-ranking debut of an Asian artist in the history of the Billboard Top 200. Pipa virtuoso Wu Man, cited by the Los Angeles Times as "the artist most responsible for bringing the pipa to the Western World,” has appeared with the Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass and world-class orchestras to provide a platform for commissions from emerging young Chinese composers. And Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project is an extraordinary model for a nonprofit arts and educational organization; it presents hundreds of cross-cultural performances by the acclaimed Silk Road Ensemble, provides workshops for students, and has commissioned more than 70 pieces of new music.

Traditions and innovations merge effortlessly in contemporary Eastern music. Orchestras play classical and modern symphonic works alongside ancient melodies. Popular pieces incorporate Western elements, from electric keyboards and pianos to guitars and dance beats, in conjunction with traditional Asian instruments. Beneath this seamless integration, it is the spirit of the East — pulsing in native rhythms and flowing with the rise and fall of traditional melodies — that is the unique element of this fresh and interesting addition to the world music scene.