Composer, vocalist and instrumentalist Min Xiao-Fen is one of the world’s leading performers on the pipa, the stringed lute that has been an integral part of Eastern musical culture for millennia. Her latest album, White Lotus, engages with a relatively more recent art form, presenting a reimagined soundtrack to director Wu Yonggang’s 1934 silent film The Goddess. In duet with the innovative guitarist Rez Abbasi, Min infuses spirited life and soulful nuance to actress Ruan Lingyu’s iconic but still- controversial film portrait. Min will employ an array of traditional Chinese instrumentation and her exquisite voice to live score an English language-subtitled screening of this screen gem, considered one of the best-known films of China’s cinematic golden age.
