With a sonic transcendence that evokes the beauty of sound and the power of silence, the guqin (古琴), a seven-string zither, occupies a distinguished place among the Four Arts (zither, Go, calligraphy, and painting). CoCE and Renwen Society are honored to invite American guqin player John Thompson (Chinese name 唐世璋) to perform for the audience and share his transcultural insights and feelings about the guqin and Chinese culture over the past few decades. At this event, music and art became a common language that transcends time, geography, and culture to nourish humanity at this very moment.

        The event will start with a live guqin performance by John Thompson, followed by the screening of veteran filmmaker Lau Shing-hon’s documentary, Music Beyond Sound: An American’s World of Guqin (《希声：一个美国琴人的境界》, 2019), which explores John Thompson's captivating life journey. By the end of the event, there will be a Q&A moderated by filmmaker Evans Chan, whose documentary, Sorceress of the New Piano: The Artistry of Margaret Leng Tan, delves into the sonic innovations of Cage, Cowell, and Crumb.