Consisting of Lan Tung/erhu-voc, Haiquiong Deng/zheng and Jonathan Bernard/marimba-perc, the trio called Orchid Ensemble brings together authentic Chinese melodies and songs in a way that takes you on a journey through the Asian landscape. The harp-like erhu creates an agonizing charm as n “Wind Desires the Clouds” while on “Ay La Llamo” the piercing and yearning vocals mix with it and the dulcimer-like zheng to sound eeringly similar to Greek folk music. A haunting choir fill up “Life Death” while vacillating tones make the undulating “Ghostly Moon” a mysterious journey through the shadows. Exotic, enticing and never letting you allow it to become background music.
The Canada Council for the Arts