Ancient Future Concert at Old St. Hilary's Landmark, Tiburon, CA April 14, 2024, 4 PM

April 14, 2024, 4 PM
Ancient Future Concert at Old St. Hilary's Landmark
Guitar and Pipa Duet Featuring Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhan

View Press Release Online with Photos and Video:
https://www.ancient-future.com/pr2024.html#april

Video of the First Notes Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhang Ever Played Together!
http://ethnocloud.com/Ancient_Future/?y_video=2144&b=942

This video captures the very first time that Chinese pipa master Shenshen Zhang and scalloped fretboard guitar pioneer Matthew Montfort played together. They met on August 21, 2011, at an acoustic guitar concert set up by steel string guitarist Mike Kostowskyj with Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretboard guitar and Richard Patterson on classical guitar at The Wine Bar in Half Moon Bay. Mike invited Shenshen Zhang to perform a number by herself. Matthew invited her to jam with him, and this is exactly what happened from their first notes together! After its release on YouTube, the video rose to #1 on the Ethnocloud Top 40 Chart in March 2014.

Ancient Future Guitar and Pipa Duet Concert

The world fusion music group Ancient Future features master musicians from many traditions who work together in different ensemble configurations. This improvisatory collaboration between Ancient Future leader Matthew Montfort and Shenshen Zhang showcases the beautiful tone colors of the Chinese pipa and scalloped fretboard guitar in traditional and contemporary arrangements.

Sunday, April 14, 2024, 4 PM, Ancient Future with Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), and Shenshen Zhang (Chinese pipa), Old St. Hilary's Landmark, 201 Esperanza St., Tiburon, CA 94920. Tix: $25, $20 seniors and under 18, $5 more at door. Advanced sales at Tiburon Town Hall, Landmarks Office, and Ticketleap.com (coming soon). Info: 415-435-1853.

Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar)

The leader of the world music group Ancient Future, Matthew Montfort, is a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar and is recognized as one of the world's 100 Greatest Acoustic Guitarists by DigitalDreamDoor.com, a curated "best of" site, along with such luminaries as Michael Hedges and Merle Travis. He has performed concerts worldwide, from the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain to the Festival of India in Mumbai. He has performed live on national radio and TV shows such as the Echoes Living Room Concerts on Public Radio International, and the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. He has worked with many world music legends, including tabla phenomenon Zakir Hussain and Chinese zither master Zhao Hui. Montfort wrote the book Ancient Traditions – Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India, which has been used by many musicians to improve their rhythm skills.

Shenshen Zhang (pipa)

A native of Wenzhou, China, Shenshen Zhang began playing the pipa at the age of nine. At thirteen, she auditioned and was accepted into the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where in 1992, she was awarded a Bachelor's Degree. In 2005, Ms. Zhang received Master's Degree in Musicology from Xiamen University. As an award-​​winning concert soloist, she performed and toured extensively throughout Asia and the U.S. Since making her home in SF Bay Area in 2006, Ms. Zhang has combined her lengthy performance career and her vast experience as an educator, preserving the musical heritage of China while also exploring other world cultures. From 2015–2017, Ms. Zhang taught in Stanford University as music instructor and conductor. In 2022, Ms. Zhang joined the Music Department at Santa Clara University as an applied instructor. She also has her own pipa studio in Silicon Valley where she teaches classical Chinese music. Her solo album, ‘Serenity,’ released in 2019, features a collection of traditional pipa masterpieces. Shenshen has been exploring new musical conversations with her ongoing live improvisations and collaborations with the pioneering world music ensemble Ancient Future, and world music artists group Common Sounds Ensemble. She also was selected to the Bay Area pilot program by American Composers Forum, and her original composition will be released early Spring in 2024 on the Innova recording label.

Quotes

"We recently hosted our most exotic Lobby Lounge show to date. You don't often get to hear music by Chinese pipa and 11-string fretless guitar. But that's what we have in the duo of Shenshen Zhang, a concert soloist on the Chinese pipa, and Matthew Montfort, leader of the Marin world music band Ancient Future, playing the seldom-seen fretless guitar and scalloped fretboard guitar. The pipa, sometimes called a Chinese lute, is a pear-shaped, four-stringed instrument that has been played in China for some 2,000 years. Shenshen first picked up the ancient instrument when she was 9, playing music with her mother in her native Wenzhou. Digitaldreamdoor.com listed Montfort among the 100 greatest acoustic guitarists. He and Shenshen first played together during a 2011 round-robin guitar night in Half Moon Bay. They met when he invited her on stage to jam with him. Magic ensued. Their on-the-spot improvisation was spellbinding, a spell they cast once again in their mesmerizing Lobby Lounge performance." - Paul Liberatore, Lobby Lounge, Marin Independent Journal