Chapter 283: Still Holding the Pipa and Half Covering Her Face

After the end of "Fragrance in the Sky", Zhou Yan took Wang Ciheng and the others to thank the audience.

Originally, Wang Ciheng was just following Zhou Yan, but when it was time to thank the audience, Zhou Yan gently pushed him forward and let him stand in the front.

Wang Ciheng turned his head to look at Zhou Yan in surprise, but Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Brother, these applause are for you, enjoy it."

At this moment, thousands of thoughts suddenly surged into Wang Ciheng's mind.

In the past, he only regarded Zhou Yan as a very successful junior brother, who was humble and polite, but this time, he really felt Zhou Yan's broad mind and courage.

He finally understood why these junior brothers and sisters in the orchestra were so impressed by Zhou Yan.

A leader with unlimited talent and willing to share glory with those around him is naturally worth following. Not to mention that the junior brothers and sisters are impressed by Zhou Yan, he, the senior brother, is also impressed by Zhou Yan now.

Although Zhou Yan asked Wang Ciheng to stand in the front, Wang Ciheng still stepped back and stood side by side with Zhou Yan, bowing to the audience.

Respect is mutual. Zhou Yan gave him face, but he could not be arrogant.

After they went down, the audience's encore continued.

This time Zhou Yan stayed in the audience for a little longer, about two or three minutes, until Wei Yuru came over with the pipa.

It must be said that Wei Yuru's external skills were well practiced. When she came over with the pipa, her every frown and smile was very methodical.

People who learn traditional musical instruments, especially female musicians who learn instruments such as guzheng and pipa, basically pay attention to the study of etiquette.

Wei Yuru has good conditions and good external skills, so she looks really eye-catching.

When Wei Yuru came to his side, Zhou Yan made a gesture of invitation, "Teacher Wei, please."

Wei Yuru was not polite, nodded slightly, and then walked to the front with the pipa.

Seeing Wei Yuru, wearing a Chinese-style long skirt with wide sleeves, come on stage, many audiences widened their eyes, because they are very interested in this kind of national tradition.

Not only American audiences think it is beautiful, but also Asians at the scene.

When many Chinese saw Wei Yuru appear, the first sentence that popped into their minds was "still holding the pipa half-covered".

In this respect, Chinese people are indeed different from foreigners. When Chinese people see something, they can easily think of some allusions.

The simplest, when describing beautiful women, the most commonly used words are "sinking fish and falling geese" and "closing the moon and shame flowers". There are four allusions in eight words.

When seeing the guqin, you will think of Boya and Ziqi, "High Mountains and Flowing Water". When seeing a beautiful woman holding a guitar, you will think of Bai Juyi's "Pipa Xing".

It's not that foreigners don't use allusions, but they don't have as many as Chinese people.

Before the performance, Zhou Yan introduced Wei Yuru as usual.

After he finished the introduction, applause rang out. It can be heard that the applause welcoming Wei Yuru was louder than the applause welcoming Wang Ciheng just now.

Sure enough, humans are visual animals, and the audience is no exception. Beautiful women can attract their attention.

After the introduction, Wei Yuru sat down next to her, and Zhou Yan mixed into the crowd with a bamboo flute.

Following the gestures of conductor Yue Lin, the sound of the pipa rang out.

Hardison, who was sitting in the front row, suddenly got goose bumps.

The song "Yearning Across Time and Space" is not at the same level as "Fragrance Floating" in terms of technical expression.

This is a very simple song. Even though Zhou Yan made some changes for Wei Yuru's performance, it is still not particularly complicated.

But simple songs have the advantage of being simple, that is, they are highly audible, and ordinary audiences can easily resonate with them. Moreover, the timbre of the pipa is very infectious and can quickly catch the ears of the audience.

The special timbre of the pipa, the special performance techniques, combined with Wei Yuru's dress and every move, form a very attractive audio-visual system.

So Hardison got goose bumps, not only because of the music, but also because of the previous visual foreshadowing.

Many audience members at the scene felt the same as Hardison. This kind of performance was originally novel and special to them, and the stimulation would become even stronger.

The song "Yearning Across Time and Space" is very suitable for the pipa, and the cooperation with other instruments further highlights the characteristics of the pipa.

It must be said that Wei Yuru's performance level is indeed very high.

Although the song is very simple, simple things still feel different when played by masters.

Yu Jia and others have also played this song with the pipa before, and the performance is already very good, but compared with Wei Yuru's performance, it pales in comparison.

In the processing of some details, Wei Yuru is obviously much more proficient.

Although Jessica did not get goose bumps, her eyes were also bright. The two encores tonight made her have a strong interest in bamboo flute and pipa.

Jessica had heard these two instruments before, but she had never felt them so closely. The technique of rolling fingers was really tasteful when displayed on the pipa.

Although Jessica has not seen other Pipa players perform, and does not know what the level of this player on stage is in the industry, she can feel that this player's level is definitely very high.

Not to mention the technique, she gives people a very good overall feeling.

Regardless of the instrument, whether the body expression during the performance is good-looking is actually a measure of the level of performance. Except for a small number of special cases, most high-level performers have very good-looking body movements.

Looking good is not just a matter of special training, but more of the feeling of relaxation that occurs immediately after reaching a good level.

Zhou Yan's concert, if nothing else, was at least full of visual experience.

Linda, who was sitting in the back row, was also very excited. She knew that these two returning programs would definitely attract the attention of the audience.

It was a pity that photography was not allowed on site, otherwise she would have really wanted to take some photos of the performers on the stage. It was really beautiful.

In the past two days, Linda has been writing a special report related to Zhou Yan. After attending the premiere of "Sense and Sensibility" yesterday, she has actually written part of it. The focus of the report is on the movie "Sense and Sensibility" The music inside has the possibility of being made into a song with lyrics.

But now she feels that this concert can also be written a little more about.

She is now considering whether to put the concert content together with the previous content, or to make two issues and develop them separately.

If there was a chance, she would also like to arrange an exclusive interview with Zhou Yan, preferably with the two performers who would come on stage later.

After the performance of "Thoughts Across Time and Space" was completed, the audience was silent for several seconds, and there was no applause.

The audience stared at Wei Yuru on the stage. It was not until Wei Yuru stopped her momentum and nodded slightly to the audience that the applause finally started.

Even though Wei Yuru had a lot of experience in performing, she was a little uneasy when she heard that the applause had not started yet. It was not until the warm applause started that she breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhou Yan walked out of the team with a smile and took Wei Yuru with him to bow down and greet the audience.

The applause this time was really warm. After it started, it never stopped. Many audience members even stood up.

Later, they introduced Zhou Yan as an encore, and some viewers were even a little disappointed not to see Wei Yuru return.

Although Zhou Yan was good, they also wanted to see the beautiful woman's performance just now.

If Zhou Yan knew what these audiences were thinking, he would not be disappointed at all. Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru could be welcomed by the audience in Los Angeles, which is exactly what he wants to achieve.

Later, Zhou Yan led the orchestra to perform "The Glimmer of Morning" from "Awakening" and "Spring of the Cowherd Class".

After four encores, the atmosphere was still very good, the encore was particularly loud, and Zhou Yan also returned again.

But after taking the stage this time, Zhou Yan took the microphone and chatted a little more with the audience.

"At the end of the performance, in addition to thanking everyone again for coming, I also want to thank several special audiences. First of all, I want to thank several members of the Backstreet Boys."

When Zhou Yan mentioned the Backstreet Boys, there was a burst of cheers. The group is now emerging and has gained a lot of fans, mostly young people. And from the cheers just now, you can tell that their fans , mostly girls.

Originally, the main audience for groups like the Backstreet Boys were teenagers, especially teenage girls.

After Zhou Yan mentioned it, several members of the Backstreet Boys also turned around and waved hello to the audience.

"I know you are very popular recently. You are touring all over the country. It is not easy to find time to come. I hope your development will get better and better. There will be audiences who like the Backstreet Boys and can support them more."

After talking about Backstreet Boys, Zhou Yan looked in the direction of Mariah Carey, "Next, the one I want to thank is Miss Kelly."

Hearing Kelly's name, the crowd cheered again. This time the noise was obviously much louder than before. Mariah Carey is still very popular in the United States.

Especially after the release of her latest album, she has definitely become the most popular singer in the United States in the past two months.

"Ms. Kelly and I just met in Toronto yesterday. I didn't expect that Miss Kelly would be able to come back today, and I'm very grateful for that. The song I'm going to play next is also related to Miss Kelly."

Hearing this, the audience cheered again, and Zhou Yan smiled and said, "Yes, as you guessed, next, we will bring you "Young and Beautiful"."

"Before, when we played other songs, we hoped that everyone could stay quiet as much as possible and enjoy the music. But this time I hope it will be different. You don't need to keep quiet anymore. If you can sing "young and beautiful" You can sing along with the music without any worries.”

After saying that, Zhou Yan took the violin and entered the team.

Soon, the music started.

After the prelude ended, the place was still quiet, but slowly people began to sing along.

“done it all, had my cake now

…”

After someone took the lead, others became bolder and slowly sang along, getting louder and louder.

However, many people don't seem to be very familiar with the lyrics, so they don't sing particularly neatly.

Just when she was singing "the crazy days", Mariah Carey's voice suddenly rang out, and she didn't know when she got a microphone.

After Mariah Carey took the lead, the rhythm began to become more regular and the sound became louder and louder.

There were more than 2,000 people present today, and they were accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. The overall effect was much better than yesterday's performance in Toronto.

With more than two thousand people singing together, it really felt like a concert.

Linda was speechless as she sang along. She had no idea that today's concert would eventually turn into a concert. The ticket price was so worth it.

Don't think about it, there will definitely be a lot of news related to this concert tomorrow.

Mariah Carey also sang very happily because the conditions of the concert hall were good and there was a piano boy band to accompany her. This was simply her dream singing stage.

When the performance on stage ended, the audience stood up and applauded. Now they regarded this place as a concert venue, and they no longer had any scruples about applauding and cheering.

But this time, after Zhou Yan bowed out, he never returned, and everyone in the orchestra also began to leave.

The audience did not give up and continued the encore, but after seven or eight minutes they did not see Zhou Yan coming back, so they stopped in disappointment.

Although the performance lasted for more than three hours, most of the audience was still unsatisfied. Especially the atmosphere of the last few performances in the encore was so good that many audiences were whetted.

Many Mariah Carey fans were so excited that they even thought they were at a Mariah Carey concert.

For them, this is bound to be an unforgettable night.

…

After Zhou Yan returned to the backstage and rested for a while, several members of the Backstreet Boys came over to say hello to Zhou Yan.

Not long after they left, Mariah Carey also came.

Seeing Mariah Carey, Zhou Yan smiled and asked, "Where did you get the microphone just now?"

"I asked Zhang to get it for me. I'm really sorry. I made my own decision without asking you in advance."

Zhou Yan smiled, shook his head and said, "No need to apologize. This session was originally for singing, and after you joined, the atmosphere was indeed better. I was just worried whether you would charge me a performance fee."

"If you feel..."

Just as Mariah Carey finished speaking, Zhang Youan came in from the outside, "Zhou Yan——"

When he saw that Mariah Carey was there, he smiled and said, "Maria, you are here too."

"Well, I'll come and have a chat with Y."

Zhou Yan asked, "What do you want from me?"

Zhang Youan glanced at Mariah Carey, and then said, "There is a reporter outside who calls himself "Billboard" and wants to interview you. Look..."

Zhou Yan rubbed his temples, "It's too late today. If I want to make an interview, I would still..."

He doesn't really like to be interviewed, let alone at this time.

"In addition to you, she also wants to interview Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru."

Hearing this, Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes.

It has to be said that Zhang Youan really understands Zhou Yan, and he knows that Zhou Yan has no way to refuse such a request.

When a reporter interviews Zhou Yan, he can ignore it, but if he wants to interview Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru, he will take it seriously.

Zhou Yan thought for a while and said, "Then let's give him ten minutes...forget it, give her twenty minutes."

"Okay, then I'll go find her."

After Zhang Youan went out, Mariah Carey said, "Since there are reporters who want to interview, I'll leave first."

"Okay, I won't send you off." Zhou Yan nodded without leaving her.

Zhou Yan estimated that Mariah Carey didn't want to meet a reporter right now. The reporter would definitely pester her when he saw her.

"Well, we'll contact you when we have time."

In fact, Mariah Carey still had something to say to Zhou Yan, but was interrupted by Zhang Youan. It was not the right time to talk now, so she could only go back first and contact Zhou Yan later.

What she wanted to say was very simple. After watching "Sense and Sensibility" yesterday, she was very interested in one of the songs and wanted to ask Zhou Yan if he could write lyrics for her and make a song.

Although the new album has just been released, she is already thinking about new works.

When Linda came in, she bumped into Mariah Carey.

She looked back at Mariah Carey's back and felt quite emotional. Zhou Yan and Maria seemed to have a good relationship.

In fact, it is understandable. After all, Zhou Yan has a lot to do with Maria's new album being so popular this time.

After following Zhang Youan to Zhou Yan, Linda smiled and said, "Mr. Y, we meet again."

It had only been a day, but of course Zhou Yan still remembered Linda. He smiled and said, "I didn't expect you to come back from Toronto so soon."

"We fly back and forth every day and are used to it."

Zhou Yan nodded, and then shouted to Wei Yuru and Wang Ciheng, "Brother, Teacher Wei, come here."

Hearing Zhou Yan calling him, the two of them came over curiously.

When they arrived, Zhou Yan introduced with a smile, "This is Linda, a reporter from Billboard. She wants to conduct a simple interview with the three of us."

"Hello, reporter Linda."

"Hello."

Wang Ciheng's English is not bad. Although his spoken English is not very smooth, there is no big problem in communication. Wei Yuru's English is not very good, so Zhou Yan temporarily acts as a translator.

Linda was very serious about getting this interview opportunity. She took out her small book and said, "Let's get started. First of all, I want to congratulate you three. Today's performance is very exciting. Then I want to ask Mr. Y a question first. Besides "Young and Beautiful" and "Yellow", will you have any other songs to be released in the United States?"

Zhou Yan shook his head and said, "Not yet."

Linda: "I watched "Sense and Sensibility" yesterday, and some of the soundtracks in it are actually quite suitable to be turned into songs. Do you have any plans in this regard? If so, are there any singers you would like to collaborate with?"

Zhou Yan: "I have no plans for this at the moment. I am relatively passive. Usually others come to me."

Linda: "It seems that you are waiting for someone who can appreciate your music. In fact, I have learned that Mr. Y is also very good at bamboo flute. I would like to ask, who is better between you and Mr. Wang? a little?"

Zhou Yan: "Of course Mr. Wang is more powerful. Mr. Wang went to the same school as me and graduated a few years earlier than me. He majored in bamboo flute. Among young performers, he is definitely the most powerful."

Wang Ciheng, "He is humble. I just play the bamboo flute every day. Unlike him, who has to take care of composing and other instruments at the same time, I am a little more skilled than him."

Linda: "This is the first time I heard the piece played by Mr. Wang today. Mr. Y said you composed it when you were in school. Can you tell us about your creative background and ideas?"

Zhou Yan: "The inspiration for this piece actually comes from the traditional Chinese painting "Walking in the Snow in Search of Plum Blossoms"."

"This painting must be famous, right?"

"It's not just a painting, many people have painted it. I also saw many paintings of Walking in the snow in search of plum blossoms, and then I got the creative inspiration. Walking in the snow in search of plum blossoms, it looks like painting plum blossoms, but in fact it is a painting of plum blossoms in the snow. It’s about mountains and snow, and the theme of this song is somewhat similar.”

Linda didn't know much about Chinese ink painting, so she didn't dwell too much on this topic. She looked at Wei Yuru again: "Miss Wei, your performance tonight was very exciting. In addition to your performance, I also noticed that your dress was very exciting." It’s beautiful. Your clothes and the hairpin on your head are also very beautiful.”

Wei Yuru: "My dress was designed by a specialized designer based on traditional Chinese clothing. As for my hairpin, it is actually a very simple green sandalwood."

Linda: "Is it wood? I thought it was jade."

Wei Yuru: "Because it is polished smoother, it feels like jade."

…

The interview lasted for twenty minutes. Due to Zhou Yan's guidance, the focus of the interview was also on Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

Linda was also very satisfied because she was already interested in Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

When the interview was over, Linda smiled and said, "The report will be out soon, you can pay attention to it."

Zhou Yan smiled and said, "If it can come out within a week, then we can still see it."

"It should be no problem. Thank you three, then I won't waste your time."

After Linda left, Zhou Yan looked at his watch. It was already past eleven o'clock. He originally thought that if he didn't have an extra performance outside the concert hall tonight, he could go back early, but he didn't expect it to be so late.

The rest of the band has already gone back early. After all, the performance will continue tomorrow. They must go back early to rest and adjust their condition.

Three consecutive performances is still a test for them. After all, one performance lasts for more than three hours, and most people don't get a break.

…

The next day, news about the concert came out, and the focus of most reports was that Mariah Carey appeared to sing at the end, followed by Wei Yuru.

At three o'clock in the afternoon, Zhang Youan found Zhou Yan and told Zhou Yan very excitedly, "Nearly three thousand tickets for today's show have been sold."

Zhou Yan was surprised when he heard this data. This actually exceeded the first one. There is still some time before the performance, and maybe it will eventually exceed 3,000.

“Could it be that the news reports played a role?”

Zhang Youan shook his head, "Probably not, because the news report has just come out, but the concert hall told me that a bunch of people suddenly came to buy tickets this morning. I suspect that many of these ticket buyers are repeat customers."

“Repeat customer…”

Zhou Yan understood what Zhang Youan meant. Yesterday, there were more than 2,000 and several hundred people present. It is estimated that many people felt that the concert was effective after listening to the first performance, so they came back to purchase again.

There is also a possibility that these audiences felt very good after hearing it, so they went back to do tap water and attended the concert with their friends.

No matter what the reason is, Zhou Yan will definitely be happy if he can sell more tickets.

He also quickly shared the good news with the rest of the band, and everyone was very excited and motivated after hearing it.

For performers, the most intuitive manifestation of the audience's approval is the sale of tickets.

No matter how much else you say, it is useless. The only way is to actually sell the tickets.

Finally, Zhou Yan gave them another dose of chicken blood, "Everyone, stay tuned tonight and try to sell out all the tickets tomorrow night."

But what Zhou Yan didn't expect was that there was no need to wait for tomorrow's show. At around six o'clock, all the tickets for today's show were sold out instantly.

A total of more than 3,100 tickets were released, and not a single one was left.

Because there were more people, the atmosphere of the concert that day was better. Especially when Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru came out at the end, it was obvious that the applause was particularly loud.

This also verified Zhou Yan's guess. Many of the people present today had been here yesterday or had heard recommendations from others, so they knew about Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

Especially when Wei Yuru appeared on the stage, the applause was louder than when Zhou Yan appeared on the stage. Zhou Yan even felt that he was falling out of favor.

Of course, Zhou Yan would not be troubled by this at all. The current situation just proves that his previous approach was correct. Wei Yuru and others can indeed conquer these foreign audiences.

In fact, Zhou Yan thinks that Europe and the United States may be a little short. If he brings Wei Yuru to Neon, it will definitely be more popular.

Zhou Yan had thought about forming a women's band before. This time may be a good opportunity. After the concert in Los Angeles is over, he will think about how to do this.

It would be best if Wei Yuru could lead the band and select some female performers with good temperament and high professional level.

If it is done, the women's band can tour abroad.

…

The tickets for the third day were sold out in the morning. This time it was not based on repeat customers, but the news reports fermented. Many people came after reading the reports.

However, many people came late and found that the tickets were sold out.

After learning about this situation, many people in the band sighed that their concerts were finally back on the "right track".

What they call the right track is that the concerts are always in short supply.

Because many people didn't buy tickets, Zhou Yan and his team added an extra show outside the concert after the third night's performance.

Two songs were added, namely "Fragrance Floating" and "Yearning Across Time and Space". The former was a duet of Zhou Yan and Wang Ciheng playing two flutes, and the latter was a duet of Zhou Yan and Wei Yuru playing bamboo flute and pipa.

These two shows not only allowed the audience outside the venue to see Zhou Yan, but also Wang Ciheng and Wei Yuru.

And because it was outside the concert hall, there was no restriction on taking photos, so many people took photos at the scene.

Especially when Zhou Yan and Wei Yuru were playing duet, the flash lights on the scene were very frequent. (End of this chapter)