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Artist: Xuefei Yang
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Xuefei Yang:

Guitar Favourites

Classical guitarist Xuefei Yang announces the release of Guitar Favourites, her next album by UMG China on the Decca label. The album represents Xuefei’s unlikely journey to become the finest Chinese guitarist on the world stage through a collection of much-loved tracks known to classical guitar lovers around the world. Xuefei has put together a personal selection of pieces showcasing her musical journey, including pieces she played as a young girl through to audience favourites she’s performed countless times on stage over the years. The album also features Xuefei’s first composition, Xinjiang Fantasy, a work based on traditional folksongs from the Xinjiang region in north-west China, and the world premiere recording of a piece by guitarist John C. Williams.

The album is the product, as well as the embodiment, of an unlikely, pioneering musical journey: from humble beginnings in a culture with no guitar tradition, Xuefei gave up a normal education at a highly regarded school to become the first ever guitar student to enter a music school in China.

As the first Chinese student to be awarded a scholarship from ABRSM, Xuefei went on to become the first Chinese guitarist to study at London’s Royal Academy of Music, and the first to launch a professional career on the world stage.

Xuefei Yang:

40 Degrees North

Xuefei Yang, the groundbreaking Chinese-born, London-based guitarist, has recorded her second CD for EMI Classics, entitled 40 Degrees North. Describing the background to this album and the inspiration for its title, Xuefei, known to her English friends as Fei (pronounced Fey), says, "I was born in Beijing, just after the end of the Cultural Revolution a period where western music and instruments were banned. The music of my childhood was the rich heritage of folk music from all regions of China. It is a music I love, but is little known in the West. When I was nine years old, my life changed when I heard a recording that my father made from his radio John Williams playing Spanish music on the classical guitar. The magic of Spanish music touched the heart of a young girl in China, and inspired me to become a professional musician.