Heo, Yoon-Jeong
Award winning Geomungo soloist and composer, Heo, Yoon-Jeong has been hard at work showcasing the deep and majestic sounds of Korean traditional six-stringed zither to the world. She does so excellently by expanding the possibilities of the Geomungo and Korean music by bringing together different genres ranging from traditional music, impromptu music, and contemporary music. Having studied the Geomungo Sanjo under the guidance of renowned master and a living treasure Han Kap-deuk, Heo, Yoon-Jeong has since been designated official successor of the Intangible Asset #16, the skills for playing the Geomungo Sanjo.

Her passion and talent has brought her to perform at various venues across the globe such as Boston, New York, Japan, Germany and of course South Korea, among others. One of the highlights of her music career was spending six months in New York after being selected by USA’s Rockefeller Foundation as a resident artist for the Asian Cultural Council New York for 2007/2008.

Min Xiao Fen
Pipa player, singer and composer Min Xiao-Fen is known for her fluid style. She is a world recognized virtuoso in both orchestral and underground projects. Ms. Min was a pipa soloist with the Nanjing Traditional Music Orchestra in China, winning the Jiangsu national pipa competition and eventually becoming a first class artist in China. Pipa is a four-stringed plucked instrument that looks like a Chinese lute. Min’s virtuosity has propelled her to be the soloist at world premiers of music by Philip Glass, John Zorn and others. She’s also played solo sets of Thelonius Monk music on Pipa, a daunting challenge, but well handled by this charming, engaging performer. She has lived in the USA since 1992. She is a composer as well, and has been featured in the American Orchestra’s “Composer Out Front” series. She founded Blue Pipa, Inc. (www.bluepipa.org) and currently lives in New York.

Tanaka Yumiko
Yumiko Tanaka is a shamisen virtuoso from Japan. The shamisen is the famous three-stringed instrument with a long neck featured in many ancient Japanese prints. As a vocalist and shamisen player she also jumps genres, playing traditional, contemporary music, new music and for the theatre. She also won a national grant to study puppetry, which she did under puppet master Basil Twist in New York. She composed and performed for the theater piece ‘Dogugaeshi’ by Basil Twist premiered in NY in 2004. Her mix of shamisen, vocals and theatre is an unforgettable performance, transfixing even the youngest music fans. You can listen to her instrumental improvisation in her solo album ‘tayutauta’ released from Improvised Music from Japan in 2004.

Line up
Heo, Yoon-Jeong / Geomungo, Ajeng
Min Xiao Fen / Chinese Pipa, Vocal
Tanaka Yumiko / Japanese Shamisen, Vocal