Xuefei Yang, guitar

»X Culture is a homage to the variety and a sign of the creativity that arises if you open up to other cultures,« Yang says. Different cultures always blend in the works that she collated on her 2023 album of the same name: for instance, the Italian composer Carlo Domeniconi is evocative of a mysterious Turkish soundscape in »Koyunbaba«, there are European composers, inspired by the Far East (Steve Goss: »Chinese Garden« and Mark Houghton: »Dance of the Orient«), conversely Tan Dun’s »Seven Desires« draws from the soundscape of Spanish flamenco. »The album reflects my own intercultural journey,« says Yang. It has also always been a concern of hers to enhance the western ideas of »classical« music with Chinese traditions and sounds. She consequently also opens her Elbphilharmonie concert with arrangements of Chinese folk songs.