CAN (Chinese Arts Now) Presents GUQIN & PIANO EVENING Performed By Cheng Yu & An-Ting Chang

Chinese Arts Now (CAN) presents the first of four events for 2018, all held in the glamorous Cabaret Theatre of the Hippodrome Casino in Chinatown. GUQIN & PIANO EVENING is a one-off evening blending music from China and Europe with a tasting of some of China's finest teas and award winning single malt whisky from Taiwan.

Cheng Yu is one of the world's foremost players of the guqin (zither) and pipa (lute), both traditional Chinese stringed instruments. Together Cheng Yu and concert pianist, and artistic Director of CAN, An-Ting Chang will weave their performances into an inspiring whole, responding to the forms inherent in each tradition.

An-Ting Chang holds MMus and PhD degrees in piano performance from the Royal Academy of Music. She regularly appears on the national and international concert circuit and has been featured on many radio programmes, including BBC Radio 3's 'In Tune'. In 2012 Chang created Concert Theatre, an emerging company pioneering a new hybrid genre interweaving classical music and drama . She has been awarded grants from the Arts Council England, Help Musicians UK, Fenton Arts Trust, Royal Victoria Hall Foundation, Garrick Club Trust and Elias Fawcett Trust. In 2018 she was appointed Artistic Director of CAN.

Born to an artistic family in Beijing, she grew up in the Gobi desert in Gansu, Northwest China where her family had been exiled during the "Cultural Revolution" Cheng Yu is an internationally renowned pipa and guqin virtuoso, scholar and specialist in Chinese music. She holds degrees in Chinese music from the Xi'an Conservatory of Music, China (BMus.) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London (MMus, PhD).

Yu performs, records and researches both traditional and contemporary Chinese music, and is involved in many cross-cultural music collaborations. She is the founder of the UK Chinese Music Ensemble and London Youlan Qin Society and currently teaches

the pipa and guqin at SOAS.Her recent research projects include the recreation of the 5 stringed pipa (lost since the 8th century Tang Dynasty) which won her major awards from Women in Music, the Arts Council of England and the Arts and Humanities Research Council. The world premiere of the 5-stringed pipa in spring 2005 was highly acclaimed and a CD recording was published in the spring of 2006.

Inspired by Asia's great, ancient tea culture, Jing teas are the finest quality expressions of authentic provenance, outstanding skill, and exceptional taste. By building relationships with the world's finest tea farmers in China, India, Sri Lanka, Japan and Taiwan, JING hand sources not only the finest teas and herbal infusions, but also special, rare teas which are seldom seen outside their country of origin.

Kavalan has won many awards since first being released in 2008, not just being awarded the title of "World Whisky Producer of the Year" (2016 - IWSC), Kavalan Classic was also named "Best World Whisky" at the IWSC in 2014, and Kavalan's Solist Vinho Barrique won the title of "World's Best Single Malt" at the World Whisky Awards in 2015. Kavalan was a dark horse when it first came on the global scene - until the Taiwanese whisky beat three Scotches and one English brand at a blind tasting held on Scotland's famed Burns Night in 2010. Kavalan is Taiwan's first whiskymaker and the nation's only family-owned single malt distillery. Kavalan takes the old name of Yilan county where the distillery is located in Northeastern Taiwan. The pure water and fresh air make this part of the subtropical island the ideal environment for the production of high quality single malt whisky.

The Hippodrome Casino is the country's largest, and most popular, casino. Located in Leicester Square, it comprises five floors of casino gaming with three separate casino floors, a PokerStars deck, an award winning steak restaurant judged the Best Steak House in London three years running, a 180-seat cabaret theatre, six bars and a two tier smoking terrace. It was judged Best UK Casino 2018 at the British Casino Awards and Global Gaming Awards.

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