Crossbridge Strings
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left to right: Lucy Strauss, Sutrisno Hartana, Joshua Zubot, James Meger, Sina Ettehad, Meredith Bates, Lan Tung, Reg Quiring
Crossbridge Strings showcases improvisation-based music on bowed string instruments from diverse cultures, including erhu (China), kamancheh (Iran), rebab (Indonesia), violin, cello, and double bass. Crossbridge Strings brings together Vancouver’s bowed string players from east and west and uses improvisation as the medium for musical exchange. Established in 2021, Crossbridge Strings is a collective of all-star improvising musicians from Indonesian, Taiwanese, Iranian, avant-garde, jazz, and western contemporary music backgrounds. While the strings weave together vibrant tapestries, Sutrisno Hartana and Lan Tung add rich colours and nuances with their unique vocals, and bass and Indonesian drums provide rhythmic foundation. The sounds from various genres naturally emerge and evolve, revealing distinct characters of each instrument/player to the foreground through spontaneous orchestration and dynamic shifts. Traditional and contemporary sounds meet to create unexpected textures that transcend cultural/genre boundaries and demonstrate improvisation in different approaches.
Crossbridge Strings於2021年由來自台灣的二胡演奏家董籃創立，以跨文化的弓弦樂器組合，在即興音樂的領域帶來不同的聲響。骨幹成員包括：印尼音樂家Sutrisno Hartana，擅長印尼胡琴Rebab、笛子Suling、雙面鼓等多種樂器，以及充滿民族風格的唱腔；伊朗音樂家Sina Ettehad演奏傳統樂器Kemenche；並廣邀溫哥華著名弓弦樂器即興演奏家演奏西方的小提琴、中提琴、大提琴、倍大提琴。Crossbridge Strings活躍於跨界合作，2021年首次登台即與NOW Society、Sound of Dragon Society、多位加拿大原住民表演藝術家合作；2022年與來自台灣的視覺藝術家董籬及舞蹈家張逸軍合作，於台加藝文節登上Vancouver Playhouse演出。2024年與龍吟滄海協會合辦Have Bow Will Travel 音樂會, 展現多元文化弓弦樂器音樂的同台競技。
Musicians Collective (may perform as a smaller group):
Lan Tung – erhu (Chinese fiddle) & vocal
Sutrisno Hartana – rebab & suling (Indonesian fiddle & flute), vocal
Sina Ettehad – kamanche (Iranian fiddle)
Meredith Bates & Joshua Zubot – violin
Lucy Strauss & Reginald Quiring – viola
James Meger – bass
Marina Hasselberg – cello
Excerpts from 2021 debut concert “Unstrung”
2022 Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Festival, collaboration with dancers from Taiwan and the US.
