Yang hopes to create guitar legacy for China

By Hazel Davis

LONDON (Billboard) - What do you get if you cross a Chinese guitarist with Spanish repertoire and a Welsh composer? The answer lies in critically acclaimed Beijing-born, London-based classical guitarist Xuefei Yang's new album.

"40 Degrees North" (EMI Classics), Yang's second album, will arrive April 7 in the United Kingdom and elsewhere later in the year.

"I was born just after the end of the Cultural Revolution, when Western music and instruments were banned," 31-year-old Yang says.

The artist, who studied classical guitar at London's Royal Academy of Music, recounts that her life was transformed after hearing British classical musician John Williams playing Spanish guitar on the radio.

"In Spain, the guitar repertoire is rich. In China there is very little," she says. "I have a dream to contribute something back to the musical community by helping create a Chinese guitar repertoire."

The new disc includes Yang-arranged Spanish works by Isaac Albeniz and Enrique Granados plus four compositions, based on Chinese themes, by Welsh guitarist/composer Stephen Goss.

Yang released her first album, "Romance de Amor," in 2006 through EMI Classics. A regular on international concert stages, she is scheduled to perform recitals this year in Germany, the United States, Spain, Portugal and the United Kingdom.

Reuters/Billboard