East and West - Chinese Guzheng Concert by Zohar Levron 古箏古筝箏

A fascinating fusion of east and west, starring the Chinese national musical instrument.

The thousands years old guzheng, which has been radically revolutionized by artist Zohar Levron, meets biblical texts, medival sacred Jewish poems, Hebrew and western classics, and original compositions.

Biography

Zohar Levron was born in Rome, Italy, in 1974, son of sopran singer Rachel Levy. He graduated with honors the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and was a member of The Israeli Philharmonic Choir and The Philharmonia Singers Choir.

In 1999 he performed several concerts under the conduction of legendary arranger and producer of The Beatles, Sir George Martin.

Besides being an acclaimed singer and arranger, Levron is also a multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar, piano, drums and other instruments.

Among his works are collaborations with artists such as Miri Mesika, Arik Sinai, Assaf Amdursky, Ortal Ofek, Vitaly Podolsky, and brilliant mandolin player and renowned conductor Tom Cohen.

In 2011, during a trip to China and Hong-Kong, he encountered the ancient Chinese musical instrument, the guzheng. It was a love at first sight. In the same year he completed a tour in Italy, performing in several cities with his uniquely modified guzheng.

His album "Guzheng Rebirth" (temporary name) is now in recording stage, and is to be released in 2024.

Zohar's Guzheng

The guzheng (古箏), also known as the Chinese zither, is a plucked string instrument with a more than 2,500-year history, which has become the most identified musical sound with China. Zohar Levron plays the guzheng in a very non-orthodox manner, with bare fingers on the 21 string instrument, and by playing it in an unprecedented method, developed by himself.

Moreover, Levron has also revolutionarily altered the guzheng, tuning it partly to pentatonic scale, as it is originally, and partly to western diatonic scale, and in addition to other modifications, he plays the strings in both sides of the bridges. But revolutionizing the guzheng's sound hasn't stopped there, as it has been also plugged into effects and a looper, typically used with guitars and electronic music.

With this fascinating fusion of east and west in the guzheng itself, Levron plays 1,000 years old sacred Jewish poems, Israeli classics, and some favorites in English, along with his own original compositions with lyrics inspired by ancient eastern sages and the Bible.