Lan Tung

Who is Lan Tung?

Lan Tung is an erhu performer, concert producer, administrator and composer playing a dynamic role in the Canadian music community . Originally from Taiwan, she incorporates Chinese music with contemporary expressions in her works. At the same time, her strong interest in music outside her tradition has been a major drive in her artistic explorations. As the leader of the Juno Award nominated Orchid Ensemble, Tung has toured extensively in North America, working with composers, musicians, dancers, visual and media artists of various cultural backgrounds.

Tung has been playing the erhu for more than twenty years. She received her training at the Chinese Cultural University in Taiwan, where she has won numerous first prizes in national music competitions. She was a member of Taipei Youth Chinese Orchestra, and she has studied with Huang Ching-Ming, Chen Su-Feng and Lee Chun Tung in Taiwan, Ng K-B in Vancouver, the world-renowned American Chinese virtuoso Jebing Chen and the principal erhu player of the China Radio Orchestra Fun Ming Zhang.

Since moving to Canada in 1994, Tung has premiered numerous contemporary compositions, including chamber, solo, orchestral and electro-acoustic works, by Canadian composers John Oliver, Hope Lee, Moshe Denburg, Mark Armanini, Jin Zhang, Janet Danielson, Michael Vincent, Neil Weisensel, Paul Plimley, Ya-Wen V. Wang, Farshid Samandari, Grace Lee, and Michael John. Her fascination for creative improvisation has driven her to perform with a number of Vancouver’s most innovative improvisers, including Coat Cooke, Ron Samworth, and the Crossing Borders Ensemble. Tung recently completed an intensive course at the Vancouver Creative Music Institute, where she studied and performed with Han Bennink and John Butcher.