Internationally renowned pipa & guzheng virtuoso LIU FANG in Concert - April 25 - 8pm

An Asian Heritage Month
PREVIEW CONCERT

Saturday, April 25, 2009 - 8pm

Telus Studio Theatre at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts 6265 Crescent Road, UBC, Vancouver

Tickets: www.ticketmaster.ca 604-280-3311
$25 General*
$15 Students/Seniors *
*plus tax & service charges

Liu Fang is “without question the greatest ambassadress of the art of the pipa in America and Europe” La press

"Masterful, graceful and riveting." - BBC London (UK)

"...a medium which fully communicates the magic of the music of Liu Fang, divine mediator.” - World Magazine (France)

Montreal resident Liu Fang has achieved an international reputation for her virtuoso and deeply spirited pipa playing, and is regarded by many as the most eminent pipa soloist in the world. For the uninitiated, the pipa is a four string lute and one of the oldest Chinese music instruments. Whether performing Chinese classical or folk tunes or a modern Western composition, Liu Fang is renowned for possessing a uniquely masterful technique and a special grace and empathy for the music she plays.

Born in Kunming, China in 1974, Liu Fang began playing the pipa at the age of six, and soon after became recognized as a child prodigy. She received a number of prizes in her early years, graduating from the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory where she also studied the guzheng (zither) in 1993. Liu Fang moved to Montreal in 1996 and embarked on an impressive international career, performing at concerts and festivals around the world.

From the Theatre de la Ville in Paris to the WOMAD Festivals in the UK and Spain to BBC concerts in London, she has built a remarkable artistic profile by capturing audiences and critics with her expressive style and expertise as well as her eclectic and wide-ranging repertoire.She has produced 9 solo and collaborative CDs, and was awarded the Millennium Prize for Future Generations by the Canada Council and the respected French Academie Charles Cros Award (the French "Grammy") in 2006.

Liu Fang continues to perform in solo concert around the world, as well as with symphony orchestras, string quartets and ensembles and has collaborated with musicians from different cultural backgrounds. She has been featured in numerous national and international TV and radio performances.Celebrated in the press as being a "divine mediator" (World, 2006), "the empress of pipa" (L'actualite) is able to transmit in an erudite and powerful way the beauty and richness of China's ancient music and the subtle yet profound nuances inherent in the instruments she plays. A very special night of music is on offer in the lovely ambiance of the Telus Theater of the Chan Center on Saturday, April 25, as a preview event to Asian Heritage Month

Audio & video demo: www.myspace.com/liufang

YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bof1GlvAo0

More information about Liu Fang:www.philmultic.com/English/ www.liufangmusic.net/English/

This presentation was made possible through the generous assistance of the Chan Endowment Fund of the University of British Columbia.

Supported by Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, Canada Council for the Arts, OMNI Television, Philmutic, Cross Current Music, and explorASIAN

Experience ASIA VOILA! at UBC - April 18

Saturday, April 18, 2009
11:00am - 4:00pm

UBC Asian Centre (1871 West Mall)

Everybody welcome! Free admission!

This is the first of its kind in UBC where more than ten UBC departments and units work as a team to offer a one-day event to celebrate the Asian Heritage Month.

Stroll along the northwestern part of the UBC campus, partake in the rich Asian cultures and enjoy the myriad resources on campus. Asia Voila features traditional Asian dance and music performances, art and photo exhibitions, lectures on poetry chanting and calligraphy, guided library tours and workshops, Asian languages round robin, book sale, Nitobe Garden tours and more!

Programs at a Glance:

Asian Centre
11:30am-12:10pm Omote Senke Japanese Tea Ceremony Tea Gallery
11:30am-12:30pm The Enchantment of Chinese Poetry Auditorium
11:30am-1:00pm In Appreciation of Chinese Calligraphy Rm. 604
11:40am-12:25pm Books, Maps and Scrolls: Finding Japanese Treasures Library
12:30-1:00pm Guided Library Tour: Chinese Library
12:30-1:10pm Omote Senke Japanese Tea Ceremony Tea Gallery
12:30-1:15pm Knowledge about Korean Movies Library
12:45-2:30pm INSTRCC Student Video Series Auditorium
1:15-1:45pm Guided Library Tour: Korean Library
1:20-2:50pm Korean Documentary Show: Behind Forgotten Eyes Rm. 604
1:30-2:00pm Guided Library Tour: Japanese Library
1:30-2:10pm Omote Senke Japanese Tea Ceremony Tea Gallery
1:30-2:15pm Indonesian Materials: What...Why...Where...How... Library
2:30-3:15pm Online Resources in Chinese Studies Library
2:30-3:10pm Omote Senke Japanese Tea Ceremony Tea Gallery
2:30-4:00pm Fun with Chinese Auditorium
3:00-4:00pm Chinese Film Show (TBA) Rm. 604
3:30-4:10pm Omote Senke Japanese Tea Ceremony Tea Gallery
On-going Information Station & Information Challenge Quiz Foyer
Asian Languages Round Robin Foyer
Book Sale Foyer/Library
Asian Food Fair Foyer
Display- Asian Films: A Century Foyer
Display: In Loving Memory of Professor Edgar Wickberg Library
Asian Library Quiz Library

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Frederic Wood Theatre

11:00-11:20am Japanese Buddhist Chant for Voice and Shakuhachi Flute
11:20am-12:00pm Dhrupad - Hindustani Vocal
12:00-12:30pm Bhangra
1:00-2:00pm Gamelan Ensemble
2:15-2:45pm Chinese Music Ensemble
2:45-3:00pm Japanese Classical Dance with TomoeArts
3:00-3:45pm Three Honorable Mice : Presentation of a collaborative work by a poet, a calligrapher, and a translator
On site Asian Food Fair

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Other UBC Locations:

Institute of Asian Research (C.K. Choi Building)
11:00am-12:00pm En Route to Asia - Research by UBC Undergraduates
11:00am-12:00pm Korean Film Show (TBA)
12:30-2:00pm Japanese Studetn's Program (Sikts, Speeches, Short Story Telling, and Singing)
12:45-4:00pm Japanese Haiku, Korean Sijo or Urdu Ghazal
2:30-4:00pm Film Show: Gaijin - Ama me como sou (Love me as I am)
On site Asian Food Fair

Nitobe Memorial Garden
Guided Tour of the Nitobe Memorial Garden - 11:30am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm, 3:30pm

Morris & Helen Belkin Art Gallery
Action - Camera: Beijing Performance Photography - 12noon -5pm

Room 112, Koerner Library
BC Binning Studios
Dorothy Somerset Studios

I Like It In Theory - UBC Visual Art Graduation Exhibition 2009 - 11am-5pm


For more information please visit: www.library.ubc.ca/asian/asiavoila
Enquiry: 604-822-2427 Asian Library

Gamelan Extravaganza - April 19 - 7pm

FREE Concert (advance reservation required - see below)

You are invited to attend the Indonesian cultural performance “Gamelan Extravaganza” on April 19, 2009 at 7-10 PM, at Vancouver Playhouse, at Dunsmuir and Hamilton, Vancouver BC. This annual concert is bringing together all the gamelan groups in Vancouver featuring UBC School of Music and Gamelan Gita Asmara (Balinese), Gamelan Madu Sari (Javanese), VCC School of Music (Contemporary Sundanese (western part of Java), SFU School for the Contemporary Arts Gamelan. They will be performing traditional musics and dances, and new musics.

Gamelan is a musical ensemble consisting mainly of traditional percussion instruments which may be made of bronze, iron, bamboo, or wood, as well as bronze and iron gongs, gong chimes, cymbals, bells, and drums (kendhang), sometimes accompanied by singers (pesindhen) and a two-stringed bowed lute, called rebab. The traditional gamelan usually performs for a variety of events including accompanying dance or puppet shows and sometimes playing compositions from ancient times to current modern life.

This is a great opportunity to experience three vibrant traditions that have taken root in Vancouver and engaged the talents of composers and performers for over 20 years.

This special event is open to the public and is free admission with advance tickets only. Tickets are available at the Consulate General of Indonesia, 1630 Alberni Street, Vancouver BC. Please phone 604 682 8855 or email: congen@indonesiavancouver.org to reserve your tickets.

Please confirm your attendance by contacting the Consulate’s email or phone line above before April 10, 2009.

PREMIERE: Wong Kar-Wai's Ashes of Time Redux - April 8, 10, 12, 13

(Dung che sai duk redux)
Hong Kong/China 2008
Director: Wong Kar-Wai

Cast: Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Ka-Fai, Brigitte Lin, Tony Leung Chiu-Wai, Carina Lau, Maggie Cheung

VANCOUVER PREMIERE!
EXCLUSIVE FIRST RUN!

Colour, 35mm, in Cantonese and Mandarin with English subtitles.
93 mins.

Pacific Cinémathèque presents one of the most gorgeous films ever made, Wong Kar Wai's martial arts epic and meditation on romantic memory, Ashes of Time Redux. An adaptation of Louis Cha's novel The Eagle Shooting Heroes, the dreamlike, sensual and poetic Redux features the late Asian megastar Leslie Cheung as a cynical swordsman running a small inn at the edge of a desert. Haunted by his past, he "solves problems" by brokering killings for the right price. Over the course of five seasons, he encounters a number of guests, each carrying their own burdens of love, loss, and regret.

Wong embarked on a world-wide search for prints of Ashes of Time, after discovering that the original negatives in a Hong Kong vault were disintegrating. It took five years for a fully restored, rescored and definitive Redux to debut at Cannes last May. In this updated version, William Chang's art direction is an illuminated revelation, Christopher Doyle's often imitated visuals have never looked better (the original Ashes won Best Cinematography in Venice in 1994), and the score has been supplemented by new cello solos by Yo-Yo Ma. The original film's dense and multi-layered storylines have been restructured according to the seasons of the Chinese almanac, making for a less elliptical narrative.

Although the original Ashes played to medicre box office in Hong Kong in 1994, with a cast that includes Leslie Cheung, Tony Leung Chui Wai, Tony Leung Kar Fai, Jacky Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Carina Lau, Charlie Yeung and Maggie Cheung, the film's massive star power has yet to be surpassed in Hong Kong cinema. And now, after martial arts epics like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero and House of Flying Daggers have attracted international audiences, it's time to re-consider Wong's most underappreciated film.

"It's like a bottle of wine," says Wong. "It needed time. Perhaps it's finally come of age."

VENUE: Pacific Cinematheque
1131 Howe Street, Vancouver
Film Info Line: 604.688.FILM (3456)

$9.50 Adult Single Bill
$11.50 Seniors/Students
$3 membership required
Tickets at the door

SHOWTIMES
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 - 7:30pm
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 - 9:20pm
Friday, April 10, 2009 - 7:30pm
Friday, April 10, 2009 - 9:20pm
Sunday, April 12, 2009 - 5:00pm
Monday, April 13, 2009 - 7:00pm

Ashes of Time Redux is presented by Pacific Cinémathèque, and sponsored by Fairchild Television, Talentvision, Ming Pao Daily News, and explorASIAN

Ticket info: Pacific Cinematheque


REVIEWS

“One of the Hong Kong auteur’s most gorgeous and alluring works, especially in this newly revamped form . . . A grandly sumptuous viewing experience.”
Eye Weekly

"For the love of all things sensual and mysterious, see this one on a big screen."
Entertainment Weekly

“A delirious swirl of colour and blinding star wattage.”
New York Times

VOLUNTEER with explorASIAN

We're looking for enthusiastic volunteers! It's a great way to meet new people and make new friends. It's also an opportunity to meet Asian Canadian artists and performers and experience the sights and sounds of Pan-Asian culture.

The explorASIAN Festival would not be a success without the generous support of those who donate their time every year.

- Is contributing and making a difference in the commmunity important to you?
- Do you enjoy meeting new people and building contacts?
- Do you feel it's important to take a leadership role in the community?
- Can interacting with your peers expand your horizons?

explorASIAN is run by committed volunteers dedicated to achieving a common vision of cultivating leadership, artistic and professional development and fostering diversity and harmony in our community. Be part of the experience!

To apply for a volunteer position, please go to http://www.explorasian.org/volunteers.html

Call For Official Supplier / Event Sponsors

Official supplier of products and services and event sponsors have a unique opportunity to create a high profile association with one of Metro Vancouver's most diverse festivals of its kind.

Demonstrate your support of local Asian Canadian artists, educational and historical projects, multicultural community initiatives, and diverse youth programs.

Sponsorship benefits can be customized to ensure that they achieve your specific corporate objectives and goals.

We will work closely with you to:

• Strengthen community ties and commitment
• Position your brand to a growing and diverse audience
• Leverage promotional activities to build excitement for new products
• Develop new business opportunities
  
  For more information, please contact
  Don Montgomery - Executive Director
  Telephone 604.677.1383
  Email: don@explorasian.org