Guest artist Roy Huang presented a lecture recital on traditional Southeast Asian instruments on March 24 in the Coulter Recital Hall at Western Carolina University.
The lecture recital entitled, “One String, Many Emotions: A Cross-Cultural Musical Dialogue,” highlighted Huang’s research on one-string instruments and musical traditions from Western classical styles to those of Taiwan, Southern China and Vietnam.
It included collaborative performances with his wife, Chen Lin Ma, on piano and flute.
The central instruments of the performance was the Vietnamese đàn bầu, a one-string monochord instrument capable of producing a wide range of tones through subtle variations in pitch and harmonics. Huang demonstrated how the instrument creates sound by lightly touching the string at specific points while plucking and using a flexible rod to bend pitch.
The performance included a variety of pieces pairing an electric đàn bầu the with piano, flute and vocals, along with the Vietnamese sáo trúc, a traditional bamboo flute, and the đàn môi, a mouth harp.
The following clip captures the đàn bầu sound accompanied by piano.
The lecture recital also included audience participation, inviting viewers to learn song lyrics, sing along and play percussion instruments.
Huang performed “All of Me” by John Legend, playing the melody on the đàn bầu while encouraging the audience to sing along. The performance and audience engagement showed the instrument’s ability to adapt to contemporary music, combining traditional Vietnamese sounds with modern popular songs.
“It was a really eye-opening experience to actually learn what other cultural instruments would sound like, especially with more modern pieces, like John Legend’s ‘All of Me.’ It gives a good example of what the instrument sounds without being just straight traditional pieces,” said Tayton Letourneau, a WCU music student that attended the lecture recital.
Nine audience members volunteered to play a variety of traditional percussion instruments, accompanying Huang on violin and đàn bầu and Ma on flute and piano. They worked through the rhythm across three songs of various tempos and gave the participants a hands-on experience.
“I really liked when he got everyone up front, and they all had their percussion instruments and he incorporated the crowd. I thought that was fun,” said Eddie House, a WCU student in the audience.
Huang also discussed the importance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s influence on classical traditions across cultures.
“In this music, I feel a kind of sadness that transcends both east and west. That’s why I decided to demonstrate that Mozart meets the đàn bầu,” said Haung during the lecture.
He demonstrated the emotional depth of Mozart’s work and impact on music beyond Europe through selected pieces by performing on violin with piano accompaniment.
The following clip features an excerpt from a Mozart piece Huang and Ma performed.
At the end of the lecture recital, the Huang and Ma offered an immersive demonstration of the đàn bầu. They gave audience members the opportunity to try the one-stringed instrument, letting them take turns exploring its unique sound and playing techniques.
Letourneau said that his favorite part was getting to demo the đàn bầu.
“It was really interesting and really hard to play,” said Letourneau. “It was difficult not having clear indication where notes were. It’s not like guitar where they had frets to indicate where the notes were, so you have to play it entirely by ear.”
Huang, a Fulbright Taiwan grantee, is a violinist and researcher whose work focuses on one-string instruments and world music. Trained in Western classical music, his work explores connections between sound, history and cultural identity through performance and research.
Ma, a Taiwanese musician and educator with a background in Western classical music, is an accomplished pianist and flutist.
The next performance from Western Carolina University’s School of Music will feature Leonidas Lagrimas and Michael Langer in a Piano Duo Recital on Tuesday, April 7 at 7:30 p.m. in Coulter Recital Hall.
