Intercultural Musicking

Intercultural Musicking A study of the dizi from a Western flute perspective By Li Chloe Chung Dissertation in partial fulfilment of the Master of Music (Performance) degree Sydney Conservatorium of Music, University of Sydney 2019 Statement of originality I declare that the research presented here is my own original work and has not been submitted to any other institution for the award of a degree. Ethical approval has been granted for the study presented in this thesis from The University Human Ethics Committee (protocol number 2015/237). Participants were required to read and to sign an information document. Informed consent was given individually prior to the collection of data. Date: 27/02/2018 ii Preface and acknowledgements My personal motivation for learning dizi was originally fuelled by an emotional engagement with the music, and a desire to learn about the stories and histories behind the repertoire. I was a high school student studying classical flute when I first saw a professional Chinese flautist (Dr. Chai Changning, later to become my teacher) perform onstage at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. I would like to thank my supervisors, Catherine Ingram and Linda Barwick, for their unceasing support during the creation of this dissertation – you have both taught me so many valuable lessons about the writing process. I am deeply grateful to Catherine, the Tianda Music Fund and Sydney Conservatorium of Music for the facilitation of my exchange as a scholarship student at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. I also acknowledge the financial support that the Australian Postgraduate Award provided me for the duration of my degree. To my dizi teachers, Dr. Chai Changning, Dong Qiuming, Professor Zhan Yongming, I thank you for sharing with me your time, wisdom, music and stories – the backbone to the stories I hope to continue telling. To my flute teacher James Kortum, thank you for your continued guidance and faith in my musical journey. To Greg Holdaway and the Sydney Alexander Technique School, thank you for helping me to discover new possibilities for movement, enabling me to play and perform to my fullest potential. For the help you have given me in translation, Jamie Lee, Jolin Jiang, Marjorie Li, James Dong, Vicki Zheng – thank you for encouraging my ongoing love of learning Mandarin. To my generous friends who helped me through the editing process, Carlo Antonioli and Jane Buhler, thank you for lending me your eye for details. Thank you to my family at home, for supporting me, as always. Last but not least, to my dear friend, thank you Pavle Cajic for musicking alongside me in many of the iii performances recounted in this dissertation, and continuing to support me in all my artistic endeavours. iv Abstract This Masters dissertation is an auto-ethnographic study which details and reflects upon my personal journey of learning to perform the solo dizi 笛子 (Chinese bamboo flute) tradition from various teachers and performers of the dizi tradition over the past three years, and how I have integrated this knowledge to contribute to my developing performance practice as a Western and Chinese flute specialist. By sharing my personal learning experiences living inside and outside of China, I show how these experiences have enriched my overall performance practice, and ultimately transformed it into an intercultural one. The performance component of the thesis illustrates the gestalt of this transformation, an hour-long recital showcasing solo pieces from both the Chinese and Western flute canon. The preparation process for learning some of the pieces for the final recital is documented in this dissertation component. v Table of contents Figures.................................................................................................................................... viii Notes on Chinese language ........................................................................................................ x Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 Dissertation and performance components of this thesis ....................................................... 1 My approach .......................................................................................................................... 2 Method ................................................................................................................................... 4 Overview of chapters ............................................................................................................. 7 Chapter 2: Background .............................................................................................................. 9 Physical characteristics of dizi ............................................................................................... 9 The solo dizi repertory ......................................................................................................... 10 Cipher notation ..................................................................................................................... 12 Chapter 3: First steps ............................................................................................................... 15 Lessons with Dr. Chai Changning ....................................................................................... 15 Lessons with Dong Qiuming ............................................................................................... 21 Global dizi community ......................................................................................................... 27 Shifting cultural and musical identity .................................................................................. 30 Chapter 4: Learning dizi at the Shanghai Conservatory .......................................................... 35 Lessons with Professor Zhan Yongming ............................................................................. 37 Group learning ..................................................................................................................... 40 Lesson structure ................................................................................................................... 41 Repertoire, notation and interpretation ................................................................................ 43 Social media ......................................................................................................................... 48 Global dizi community ......................................................................................................... 49 Shifting cultural and musical identity .................................................................................. 52 Chapter 5: Expanding my practice ........................................................................................... 54 New performance opportunities ........................................................................................... 54 Challenges of intercultural music practice ........................................................................... 60 Physical ergonomics ........................................................................................................ 61 Communication skills ...................................................................................................... 64 Changes in my teaching practice ......................................................................................... 65 Chapter 6: Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 69 vi References ................................................................................................................................ 73 Appendix A: Piece references .................................................................................................. 75 Timecode for recital program pieces ................................................................................... 75 Pieces discussed in thesis ..................................................................................................... 75 Appendix B: Glossary .............................................................................................................. 76 Appendix C: Recital program .................................................................................................. 77 vii Figures All Figures are my own unless otherwise indicated. Figure 1: My three dizi teachers (left to right): Dr. Chai Changning, Professor Zhan Yongming, Dong Qiuming and myself ...................................................................................... 6 Figure 2: Author’s collection (top to bottom): Western flute; qudi in C, D, E; bangdi in F, G, A ................................................................................................................................................. 9 Figure 3: Example of cipher notation. Taken from Dr. Chai Changning’s collection, used with permission ................................................................................................................................ 13 Figure 4: Music from Figure 3 transcribed into Western notation .......................................... 13 Figure 5: Example of key indication for dizi: ‘G diao, tong yin zuo 2’ (‘Key of G, sound of the cylinder is 2’) ....................................................................................................................

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