By Xinming Li, bostonese.com
Cambridge, Mass., Nov. 23, 2015, — Photo exhibition Record of 24 hours in Xinjiang opened Friday evening at Asian Cultural Center Boston on 1035 Cambridge St. About 100 invited guests attended the opening ceremony. About 70 photographs of Xinjiang’s unique landscape and diverse culture were on display in the Panda Studio &b Art Gallery at the newly renovated Asian Cultural Center.
Zhimin Li, Director of Press and Public Affairs Office of Chinese Consulate New York, delivered welcome remarks. He mentioned that the photos were reflections of the achievement over the past 60 years since the Xinjiang Autonomous Region was established in 1955.
The photos of this exhibition were taken by photographers from Mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. They climbed Tian Shan, crossed over the grasslands and the Gobi, They communed with the landscape, communicated with old villagers, and captured every touching moment of the local people via their lenses. They have left behind these lasting images to chronicle this magic place-Xinjiang.
Hui Weng, a Guzheng virtuoso steeped in age-old Chinese traditions, has crossed borders that few others have dared to. She played a guzheng piece that was full of the rhythm of Xinjiang as shown in the video above.
Ms. Weng has been awarded the gold medal for the National Rising Star and Oriental Artist, among others, for her performances in major national and international competitions. In 2011, Ms. Weng successfully released her first album “Men of Letters”. After she landed in the US, she made her American debut with “Twin Flower”. Ms. Weng held her first benefit Concert for Autism in May 2014 in Jordan Hall and successfully premiered the Guzheng concerto piece “The Rumble of Spring”. Since Ms. Weng arrived in the US in 2011, her role has developed beyond Guzheng performance to encompass singing, dancing, composing and curating new works. As an active Guzheng player, Ms. Weng has appeared in recitals in Beijing, Shanghai, Chicago, Boston and more.
Born in Xuzhou, China, Hui Weng studied with Professor Wang Zhou, a renowned master of the traditional Guzheng and musical educator in China. At the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she got her Bachelor’s degree. While in China, she participated in many premiers of works by a new generation of Chinese composers such as Tan Dun, Yi Chen, Xiaogang Ye and many others.
Ms. Weng has B.M in Guzheng performance, Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing; M.M in Contemporary Improvisation, New England Conservatory. She studied with Dr. Hankus Netsky and Eden Macadam-somer. She has held a teaching post at New England Conservatory since September 2014.