“Moon” to light up Lantern Festival

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One of the highlights of this year’s Lantern Festivals will be performances by top Shanghai musical ensemble Moon.

The Moon ensemble was formed in 2003 by Tony Yue, a young pipa soloist from the Shanghai Traditional Orchestra. Yue wanted to make traditional Chinese music accessible to a young audience whose musical tastes were attuned to modern western influences.

The result is a dynamic ensemble of young musicians who play traditional instruments such as the pipa, erhu and suona, assimilated with contemporary electronic music.

All members of Moon have been professionally trained. The group started by performing cover music, and has gradually migrated to playing original compositions. Moon has performed to critical acclaim at many major events in China.

The ensemble will play each night at the Lantern Festival in Auckland and Christchurch.

The Moon musical ensemble is visiting New Zealand courtesy of Cathay Pacific and the Chinese Ministry of Culture.