People still consider suona as an out-of-date instrument, just as before
Thinking it’s only played in traditional weddings and funerals
In fact, it has appeared on international stages
Long time ago
My name is Liu Wenwen
I’m the first doctor majoring in suona in China
I have been learning suona for around 25 or 26 years
I was born in a family of suona
The members of my mother’s family of origin began to play suona in as early as early Qing dynasty
My father is the seventh-generation inheritor of xiaotong suona
The most significant overseas concert I performed was in 2017
When I performed in Australia
I was still a student then
And I was totally muddled
That was also my first cooperation with Mr. Tan Dun
The renowned composer and conductor
He told me
“Just remember your performance tonight will represent Chinese folk music”
“You can go slowly and nobly”
His words energized me
When I performed the cadenza of Hundreds of Birds Paying Homage to Phoenix
I used the skill of circular breathing
The foreign audience were all spellbound
The performance was a great success
And the video went viral online
Comments said suona surprised the world
I have been quite busy over the recent years
I need to finish my PhD project
And I give performances across the nation
My family and my students can’t understand
Why I spend so much time practicing suona
For other wind instruments
It’s enough to practice two to three hours
Per day
But I practice suona for 12 to 13 hours a day
Because it’s a special due to its loud volume
Blemishes will be brought out during the performance
A lot of body parts are used when you play suona
Such as the tip, the middle and the rear of your tongue
And delicate skills are required
We call the mouth koufeng
Switching between high and low pitches is controlled
By tightening or relaxing koufeng
The most important part is Shaopian
Like a soldier’s gun
Shaopian is made from reed
You can wet it with water
And then the sound can vibrate
When I began to learn suona
I disliked it
I thought it was not an instrument for girls
My mouth was often cut by shaopian
It hurt so much
I didn’t practice at home when my parents were out
And my parents were experts
When they touched the shaopian and found it was not wet
They would punish me
We didn’t get along well with all our neighbors
Playing suona was indeed a bit noisy
If you want to make a name for yourself
You need to have your representative works
I listened to Jay Chou when I was a teenager
And all kinds of rock and roll and jazz
I was very curious if such music could be played by suona
So I invited a lot of young composers to compose for suona
So we need to be professional
And innovative at the same time
We combined suona with jazz piano and drum set
The performance in Shanghai was amazing
Suona occupies nearly 98% of my time
Which means I’m repeating one thing
Continuously
I have been suffering from it actually
To me
Performing on stage is the moment to release emotions
When I was at school
My classmates all made fun of me because I played suona
Now
I often receive invitations from top international orchestras to give performances
Which means the biggest approval to me
Suona represents Chinese music
I think Chinese music must play a part in the world music
Or the world music will be incomplete