The beautiful sound of Lin JiaQing’s lute echoed through Taubman Atrium in the Owen Arts Center today.
The Expanding Your Horizons Brown Bag Concert Series presented the Chinese lute virtuoso. JiaQing is the Pipa First Chair for the Folk Music Dance Troupe of China.
The pipa is a Chinese musical instrument with four strings. It belongs in the plucked category of instruments.The word pipa describes the the musician’s plucking stokes, with pi meaning “to play forward” and pa meaning “to play backward.”
The audience sat captivated by the skill and passion JiaQing portrayed. There was about 40 people in attendance, ranging from SMU students on their lunch breaks to Dallas residents coming to campus to see JiaQing play.
JiaQing was dressed in a traditional Chinese silver robe with golden embroidery on the sleeves. He did not speak English, but the sound of his music was enough to win the attention of every audience member.