Han Mei

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Han.

Mei Han (simplified Chinese: 韩梅; traditional Chinese: 韓梅; pinyin: Hán Méi) is a Chinese guzheng performer and scholar.

She was born into a military family in Beijing, the youngest of four children.^[1] Her father came from Shanxi, and her mother, who is half Miao, came from Hunan. Her maternal grandfather was a scholar, calligrapher, and educator named Long Zhancen (龙湛岑, 1889–1969).^[2]

Han began playing the guzheng at the age of eleven.^[3] She graduated with a degree in English from Beijing Workers' University (北京市职工大学).

Han's primary instrument is the 21-string guzheng, but she also plays guzheng with 16, 23, and 26 strings, as well as the liuqin. She performs in traditional, contemporary, and cross-cultural contexts. She studied guzheng with Zhang Yan (张燕) and Gao Zicheng (高自成). She has recorded with Paul Plimley, Orchid Ensemble and Randy Raine-Reusch and performs internationally with her Chinese instrumental quartet Red Chamber, which was established in 2005.^[4] With Red Chamber, she recorded an album called Redgrass (2008), which combines Chinese music with elements of bluegrass.

She holds two master's degrees in ethnomusicology: from the Musical Research Institute of the Chinese Arts Academy (中国艺术研究院音乐研究所) in Beijing (1995) and from the University of British Columbia (2000). She wrote the "Zheng" article for the second edition of the The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001).

She lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with her husband Randy Raine-Reusch. She came to Vancouver in 1996 and met Raine-Reusch at the University of British Columbia in 1998, marrying him in 2001.^[5] She is currently a Ph.D. candidate in ethnomusicology at the University of British Columbia.

She has recorded one solo album, entitled Outside the Wall (2005).

Han's niece (the daughter of her brother) is Cecilia Han (Chinese name: Han Xue, 韩雪; b. 1983), a Chinese film actress and pop singer who sang at the closing ceremony of the 2008 Olympic Games.

Discography

As leader

• 2005 - Outside the Wall (Za)

With Red Chamber

• 2008 - Redgrass (Za)

With Orchid Ensemble

• 2000 - Heartland
• 2004 - Road to Kashgar

With Paul Plimley

• 2006 - Ume: Improvisations for Zheng and Piano (Za)

With Randy Raine-Reusch

• 2001 - Distant Wind: New Directions For Chinese Zheng (Za)

References

1. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/archives_ITM.html
2. ^ Long took the Qing Dynasty's imperial examination at the age of 13, receiving excellent marks. He graduated from Hunan Normal University in 1908, and in 1911 went to England for further studies. Upon his return to China he became an instructor at Beijing University. In 1937, he founded Yufu High School in Changde, Hunan. Most of his calligraphy was burned by Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. http://dcsz.dcdj.com.cn/news.asp?Lid=38
3. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/archives_ITM.html
4. ^ http://www.mei-han.com/redchamber.html
5. ^ http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/archives_ITM.html

External links

• Mei Han official site
• Red Chamber page

Interviews

• Mei Han interview

Listening

• "China's Long Song", from CBC Inside the Music program

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