In concert

Orchid Ensemble

Where: Vancouver Community College Auditorium, Broadway and King Edward Campus

When: Saturday, 8 p.m.

Tickets: $15/$12, $10 for VCC students

On the surface, Jewish klezmer and Chinese classical don't have anything in common.

Yet both cultures have experienced and had to overcome racism. Deep down, though the expression is very different, that might be the link that joins them.

It's an avenue Orchid Ensemble will be going down this Saturday with its Ten Thousand Miles To Kai-feng.

The ensemble will be joined by the Madrigal Singers, percussionist Boris Sichon and Olam's saxophonist, Mike Braverman, who will perform "Hundred Birds Honouring the Phoenix."

"He's playing a Chinese piece on saxophone," Orchid Ensemble's Lan Tung says of Braverman. "He's probably the only saxophone player playing that piece."

Such a collision is nothing new to Orchid Ensemble. It began playing strictly Chinese classical music but now thinks of itself as a daring fusion of many other styles or cultures. Last year, for instance, the ensemble teamed with a gamelan orchestra.

This show, however, might be considered more personal. The Orchid Ensemble formed in 1997 around the husband and wife team of Tung and Jonathan Bernard. Tung was an acclaimed Erhu musician adhering to Chinese classical forms while Bernard was a Vancouver Symphony Orchestra percussionist who introduced Tung to western elements. Through the years, Bernard's Jewish heritage asserted itself to the point where merging klezmer and the more structured Chinese tradition seemed natural to a self-described fusion orchestra.

"We are in no way a klezmer group," Tung stresses. "There will always be a Chinese element. In Asia, people always ask, 'What is Chinese music?' We went to China last year and heard the question. We're just playing music; it's very simple."

Yet there are striking differences. What Tung plays on her Erhu is instinctively Chinese but has been mutated by Bernard's western classical influence. "Chinese music has a wide range of expression," Tung states. "Klezmer sounds joyous but beneath that there is sadness."

The Jewish presence in China goes back as far as the 7th century. Drawn by the silk road, the Jewish people established communities throughout the country but never left any evidence of the music they might subsequently have made. Ten Thousand Miles To Kai-Feng, then, is fanciful speculation based on Tung's and Bernard's collective experience.

"The first thing we do is choose music that we find inspiring," concludes Tung. "We're drawn to the music and want to learn more." tharrison@theprovince.com