Performances@Lingnan 2024-2025

28 October 2024

Immerse yourself in the soulful sounds of jazz at this jazz music event featuring a stellar quartet "Yut". Experience the magic of live jazz as vocalist Heidi Li, pianist Manuel Magrini, drummer Antonio Fusco, and double bass player Massimiliano Rolff come together to weave a blend of sound and rhythm.

The “YUT” Quartet brings the musical elements and expressions of Chinese music, especially Cantonese opera, into jazz. Through interaction and improvisation between musicians from different cultural backgrounds, they cross genre boundaries and blend the charm of Chinese tradition with the improvisational spirit of jazz music ingeniously.

Hong Kong-born jazz singer and composer Heidi Li was deeply immersed in Cantonese opera during her childhood under the influence of her parents. After settling in Italy during her studies, she discovered a passion for jazz music and improvisation. Heidi began to integrate Cantonese opera into jazz music to create unique pieces. She pursued a degree in Vocal Jazz Performance at Siena Jazz University. Her thesis and performance theme was "Xiqu meets Jazz: The Possibilities of Incorporating Cantonese Opera Musical Structures and Expressions in Jazz," and she graduated with full marks of 110.

Heidi plans to showcase the fusion of diverse music genres with her unique background of Chinese cultural heritage and Italian music education. In addition to original jazz compositions inspired by Cantonese opera, she has also orchestrated several Italian songs with original Chinese lyrics, as well as a medley of Italian and Chinese melodies, creating a musical dialogue between the two cultures.

The three outstanding Italian musicians collaborating with Heidi are: Manuel Magrini, a rising star of the Italian jazz scene who has already won various national awards and is a long-term collaborator of Heidi; Antonio Fusco, who has lived in China for five years and adds a unique cultural touch to his drumming; and the well-experienced touring artist Massimiliano Rolff on double bass, who has recently become a point of reference for many lovers of jazz music in Italy and Europe.