Wu Fei 吴非

What a fun night performing w/ Abigail Washburn at the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations Gala and making new friends!

It’s nice to see senior officials & states people from 2 sides sit down to have dinner.

A battle of bands from both sides would be way cooler 😎🤘

Photo © O & Co. Media

Make sure you have a digital passport photo ready to upload.

I was worried about delay because of government shut down. It actually was surprisingly fast & easy. I received email updates re. the status of my application.

For anyone who needs to renew U.S. #passport soon, I did mine online 2 wks ago w/out going to a postal office. It took 9 days (incl a wknd) from when I submitted the application to when I received the new passport. I didn’t choose priority mail delivery, somehow it’s mailed to me via USPS priority.

Today, I used all overtones on the #guzheng to create this piece. Because it’s multi-tracked, sometimes my plucking doesn’t line up perfectly btw tracks. I used to think it’s a flaw for recorded music. Not any more. It’s probably hard to fake mistakes. Hope this song can massage your ear drums.

#1224 Wu Fei’s Music Daily — Think again 三思

In the world of AI, making mistakes is more valuable. At least it’s real. I took this photo yesterday near my home in Nashville. The colors are so intense under the sun that it looks almost like an oil painting.
wufeimusic.substack.com/p/1224-think...

Footage from my time playing in Beijing No.35 Middle High School Orchestra. Conductor Peng Xiu Wen.
Music: Koum Tara (Algerian music)
Orchestration: Peng Xiu Wen

这段珍贵影像记录了我初中在北京市第三十五中学金帆乐团演出的时光，由指挥大师彭修文先生执棒。作品 《达姆达姆》阿尔及利亚民歌。配器：彭修文

彭老师是当时中国广播民族乐团的团长，是把穆索尔斯基的《图画展览会》配成民族乐团作品的第一人。彭指挥的夫人李老师也是我的小学音乐老师😊

Friends in NYC, DC, Boston, SoCal, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver 🔥 揽佬SKAI ISYOURGOD is headed to y’all!

No Nashville date :(

Music Tuned to 440 Hz Versus 432 Hz and the Health Effects: A Double-blind Cross-over Pilot Study The current reference frequency for tuning musical instruments is 440 Hz. Some theorists and musicians claim that the 432 Hz tuning has better effects…

In that context, Klaus Hubbertz shared an article titled, “Music Tuned to 440 Hz Versus 432 Hz and the Health Effects: A Double-blind Cross-over Pilot Study.”

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

This term comes from the fact that sound waves have a frequency measurable as a number of oscillations, or cycles, per sec.

An intriguing comment from my last newsletter, “1220 Bamboo Shadow 竹影,” led to a discussion about the colored strings on my guzheng and their purpose.

#1221– New frequency Dear listeners,

#1221 Wu Fei’s Music Daily – New frequency

(The birds in the forest are chirping like crazy in the recording, now I’m listening to it 🌳 It’s working!)

Today, I tuned my guzheng to a frequency of A4 = 432 Hz, which is also known as “cycles per second”.

wufeimusic.substack.com/p/1221-new-f...

#1220 — Bamboo shadow 竹影 Double guzheng improvisation

The darker, slightly smaller guzheng is made from zitan wood (紫檀), an extremely dense rosewood so heavy it sinks in water. Zitan ranges in color from blackish-purple to deep reddish-black. Its fibers are rich with natural pigments that have been used as dye since ancient times.

A recent archaeological excavation in Lija village, Jiangxi Province, uncovered 47 coffins made of nanmu wood—dating back about 2,500 years to the Eastern Zhou dynasty. Well, maybe my guzheng can last that long too ;)

#1220 Wu Fei’s Music Daily — Bamboo shadow 竹影

Double guzheng improv.

The lighter-colored one is crafted from nanmu wood (楠木), a precious timber native to China & South Asia. Historically, nanmu was used in boatbuilding, architecture, furniture & sculpture.
wufeimusic.substack.com/p/1220-bambo...

Photo 2:
The ruan 阮 is a traditional Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings.

Depiction of Ruan Xian (阮咸）playing a Ruan (figure on right) found in an Eastern Jin or Southern dynasties tomb near Nanjing, dated around 400 AD.

Just listened to this solo da-ruan 大阮(bass ruan) new composition on QQ Music (1) , composed by Li Yuejin & performed by Li Bocheng. It’s so good that I’ve listened to it for at least 5 x repeat. So happy to hear amazing new works on trad. Chinese instruments from contemporary music world in China!

or “neck-neck deer,” because I couldn’t pronounce “cháng jǐng lù” yet while I was still learning how to talk.

I’d love to go back to Africa with my family someday. It is one of the most beautiful continents I’ve ever visited.

Coincidentally, the valiha, the Chinese guzheng, and kora (or cora) from West Africa all have 21 strings. I need to get myself a kora to unite the 21-string gang!

In Chinese, a giraffe is called 长颈鹿 (cháng jǐng lù). It means “long-necked deer.” When I was a toddler, I called giraffes “脖脖鹿 bóbo lù”

On the Mpumalanga safari, South Africa, April 2010. The name means “East“, or literally “The Place Where the Sun Rises“ in the Nguni languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique.

Beautiful valiha from Madagascar 🇲🇬

#1217 Wu Fei's Music Daily – Africa’s bobo deer 脖脖鹿 Valiha night song 8

I sang & improvised this song on the valiha—a trad. 21-string tube zither from Madagascar. I want to thank my friends Tasha & David for bringing me this gift from Madagascar to Nashville.
wufeimusic.substack.com/p/1217-afric...

#1216 Wu Fei’s Music Daily — Acid mother food 酸甜祖母绿

I composed this 4-track guzheng étude today. The tomatoes in my mom’s garden are ripe. That sweet/sour taste awakens every nerve from my skull to spine. It’ll be hard to return to store-bought tomatoes.
wufeimusic.substack.com/p/1216-acid-...

#1215 Wu Fei’s Music Daily — Poisonous Jack-o-lanterns 萤蛊

This four-track guzheng set was inspired by the Jack-o’-lantern mushrooms I saw on a hike today. They’re all over the hills in West Nashville, and it was my first time seeing these bright orange fungi.
wufeimusic.substack.com/p/1215-poiso...

Prokofiev Piano Sonata No. 2 Finale. Vivace. Yevgeny Morozov, piano #piano #pianist #prokofiev #classicalmusic TikTok video by Yevgeny Morozov, pianist

Prokofiev’s magnificent last mvmt Vivace of his Piano Sonata #2 (1912).

D minor doesn’t need to mean anything anymore from the way he expressed himself, especially given the background of the classical music era he’s living in. A revolutionary in the most authentic way.
www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8A44M6B/

Time to get on stage and have some fun!
With Abigail Washburn at the Ziefeld Theatre, Time Square #NYC gala the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
#guzheng #banjo #ChineseFolkMusic #AmeicanFolkmusic

Sound checking with Abigail Washburn Gala the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations
#NYC #guzheng #banjo #pickin’Girls #古筝 #班卓琴

My daily music posts will resume later next week. Thank you for your support!
Have a fun weekend!

Photo by Shervin Lainez

Next week, I’ll be in NYC to perform w/Abigail Washburn at the Gala of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. As the relationship btw our 2 countries faces challenges, it feels more important than ever to share our common desire for beauty & shared humanity.

www.ncuscr.org/event/2025-g...

#1214 Wu Fei’s Music Daily — Still bursting 迸穹

Today’s 3-track guzheng tremolo piece was inspired by a conversation with my 10-year-old about the universe—how everything will keep stretching until it bursts.

wufeimusic.substack.com/p/1214-still...

Photo by Yan Ming 阎明 October 6, 2025 in Beijing 白塔寺 on Moon Festival

#1211 Wu Fei’s Music Daily — Full moon over the white pagoda 白塔明珠

Happy Moon Festival! Also known as the Mid-Autumn Festival, tonight brings the fullest and brightest moon of the year.

wufeimusic.substack.com/p/1211-full-...

I fell in love with the beautiful Lithuanian people, landscape and culture.

This night song is inspired by an evening walk I did by the Danė River in the heart of Klaipeda. It was a peaceful and colorful evening, just like this piece.

The Barkentine Meridianas in Klaipėda was built in Finland in 1948 as a post-WWII reparation for the Soviet Union and served as a training ship for future sailors and captains for almost 20 years.

#1028 Wu Fei’s Music Daily — The Danė River night song 达涅河的夜歌

Thank you for being patient with me this last week when I was away from home. I’m back home from a beautiful trip premiering guzheng concertos with the Klaipeda Chamber Orchestra in Lithuania.

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What an amazing concert I played with the beautiful Klaipėdos kamerinis orkestras / Klaipėda Chamber Orchestra last night, conducted by maestro Leif Karlsson!

ačiū, Klaipeda! Always looking forward to be back ❤️