WOMADELAIDE ’93

… Next was Zi Lan Liao, the twenty-four year old Ku-Cheng prodigy, on Stage 2. The Ku-Cheng is a 21 string harp which is played horizontally. Zi Lan helped our unsophisticated ears along with her gentle sense of humour and song explanations. As she explained, many of the pieces were centuries old, but she certainly played them with plenty of youthful passion. Atmospheric songs evoking events such as storms and hurricanes were particularly effective. Zi Lan closed her performance with a graceful ribbon dance which made the most of her striking crimson costume.