Events Archive

The SIlk Dialogues project started in three corners of the world in 2016: New Zealand, China and UK. The following is a brief account of the various phases and events.

2014-2016: United Kingdom

Dorothy Ker and Shu Jiang collaborative experimentation with the guzheng over many sessions. Dorothy composed the short piece Dark Pool for solo guzheng, which was performed by Shu Jiang at Firth Hall in Spring 2016.

Easter 2016: Taiwan

Composer Jeroen Speak worked with the guzheng specialist and scholar Jiuan Reng in Taipei on aspects of contemporary technique and notation in advance of completing the first draft of his piece. Jiuan Reng’s paper on the subject will soon be available in Chinese and English on this site.

May 2016 : United Kingdom

A work-in-progress workshop with Shu Jiang and Fidelio Trio at Royal Holloway College was an opportunity to try out ideas and find a shared sound-world for the ensemble.

16th September 2016: New Zealand

First concert with Xia Jing and NZTrio at the Adam Concert Room, Victoria University, Wellington New Zealand. The concert was part of the Moon Festival celebrations and supported by the Confucius Institute and NZ-China Foundation. The concert was recorded for broadcast by Radio New Zealand, and filmed by SOUNZ for streaming on Vimeo (follow Repertoire and Videos link.

October 2016: Beijing

Second concert with Xia Jing and NZTrio at Capital Normal University, Beijing. Hosted by Gao Ping. Dorothy Ker and Jeroen Speak attended open rehearsals to public audiences, and also gave presentations to students and staff at the University.

NZTrio Beijing concert.png — **flowers all round!**

17 March 2017 : United Kingdom

Performance by Xia Jing with Fidelio Trio, hosted by Sheffield University Concerts Series as part of Classical Sheffield’s Classical Weekend festival. Upper Chapel, Sheffield.

November 2023: United Kingdom

A new collaboration with the group Forum Music (Taiwan) with Yeh Jiuan-Reng (guzheng) 葉娟礽 Hou Jou An (cello) 侯柔安 Jennifer Wang (percussion) 注琟婷

this saw four new composition by Dorothy Ker, Michael Norris, Ellen Sargen, and Jeroen Speak. The concert at Firth Hall, Sheffield, was initially intended as the final event in the series of three, but Covid intervened so that it became the first, delayed, concert. We were delighted to be able to gather the threads again and continue the collaboration.