Hear and Now - New Music in China - New Music in China

In the first of two reports from China, Robert Worby visits Beijing to investigate the thriving new music scenes, both official and unofficial. The programme includes electronic music by Zhang Xiaofu, who runs the city's electronic music festival, and a concert specially devised by the Beijing New Music Ensemble, playing music by three generations of Chinese composers. They range from Gao Weijie, of 'the lost generation' that had to go underground during Mao's time, to Zhang Shouwang, a twentysomething composer whose piece Xizhimen Traffic Lights was inspired by the incessant rhythms of downtown Beijing traffic. Robert also investigates Beijing's underground scene, meeting singer and drummer Shenggy, and visiting a tiny club called 2 Kolegas, to meet Yan Jun, poet, sound artist and organiser of a weekly experimental music night. He performs a piece specially for the programme, using feedback generators. Part of Radio 3's Focus on China season.