The musical traditions of Yunnan's ethnic minorities will be on display this Thursday and Friday night with performances by Huanqing, Zhang Quan and Luo Fengxue at the Yunnan Yuansheng Indigenous Music and Dance Studio. The studio is located within Chuang Ku (创库), aka The Loft, the art compound at 101 Xiba Lu.

Huanqing is from Chongqing and used to play in the rock and experimental band Another Two Comrades. Now he lives in Dali and studies ethnic instruments.

Zhang Quan is a former member of the now-defunct Beijing folk band Wild Children. Zhang was also the co-owner of the folk music venue River Bar in Beijing. He moved to Yunnan in 2003 and in 2006 he had a solo tour that passed through Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, Qinghai and Tibet.

Luo Fengxue is from a small village in Dali Weishan County. Luo has learned to play the leaf harp, gourd pipe, bamboo flute and has studied the shaman drum offering rituals, incantations, songs and dances of the Liangshan Yi people, and traditional songs of the Hani people. He has performed in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hong Kong.

Yunnan Yuansheng Indigenous Music and Dance Studio is a non-profit organization operating under the BAMA Mountain Culture Research Institute at the Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences.

The studio is focused on research, preservation and presentation of Yunnan's ethnic minority cultures. It was established in 2004 and performed in The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and on Broadway in New York in 2005. The director of this week's performances is filmmaker Liu Xiaojin.

The concerts at Yunnan Yuansheng Indigenous Music and Dance Studio will begin at 8:30 pm on Thursday and Friday of this week (the 18th and 19th). Seating is limited and tickets are 35 yuan/person or 30 yuan if booked three days in advance.

Tickets: Ms Liu (0871) 240 0237 or 13354608051
Address: Yunnan Yuansheng Indigenous Music and Dance studio (源生坊剧场) in Chuang Ku/The Loft (next to Nordica), 101 Xi Ba Road
Buses: 4, 22, 62 to Bai Yao Chang

Tags: Huanqing, live music, Luo Fengxue, Yuansheng Studio