Steppin' Out

Story

Chinese classical guitarist, a rarity, performs in San Jose

By Jennifer Roberts

Carrying her guitar case around the Central Conservatory of Music in her native Beijing, Xuefei Yang turned heads: no guitarist in China had ever entered a music school before. Yang continued breaking ground as the first Chinese guitarist to study classical guitar in the West, and the first guitarist--and first Chinese student--ever to receive a scholarship for postgraduate work at London's Royal Academy of Music.

Yang has since introduced many more of her countrymen to classical guitar music as an international solo performer. Her extensive concert circuit extends to San Jose's Le Petit Trianon Theatre on Oct. 6, when she'll perform such Latin guitar classics as Isaac Albéniz's "Asturias, Córdoba & Sevilla," "Agustín Barrios," "Un Sueño en la Foresta," and works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Francisco Tárrega and Antonio Lauro.

She'll also perform "Variations on Mozart's Magic Flute" by Fernando Sor, and three pieces from Raise the Red Lantern, composed by Stephen Goss.

Thirteen-year-old Seika Dong, first-place winner of the 2006 Japan International Harp Competition, will provide pre-concert entertainment on the harp.

Bookending the concert are a live radio performance and interview on Oct. 5 at 5 p.m. on KKUP 91.5 FM, and a classical guitar master class on Oct. 7, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at Historic Hoover Theatre in San Jose. An audit admission of $5 will be charged for the master class, though no registration is required.

During her stay in San Jose, Yang will also mentor area high school students. On Oct. 8 and 9, she'll visit Santa Teresa, Evergreen and Monta Vista high schools' music classrooms to demonstrate her technique, answer questions and recount her path to success, which began with her debut concert in Madrid, Spain, at the age of 14, with the late, great Spanish composer Joaquín Rodrigo in the audience.

Tickets for Yang's Oct. 6 concert are $15, $20, and $25. For information, call the South Bay Guitar Society at 408.292.0704 or visit www.sbgs.org.