Xuefei Yang, Kendal Midday Concert Club

Picture the scene: a typical late-November day – dull, wet, uninspiring; you are in Kendal’s Town Hall for a midday concert club recital; perhaps surprisingly there’s hardly a spare seat; the stage, apart from a single chair, is bare and empty; the club’s wonderful backcloth is on view (but sadly, no floral decoration); nobody quite knows what to expect; a solo guitar – how will that come across?

At 1 o’clock you have your answer; climbing carefully onto the stage, cradling her guitar, the slim, elegant Xuefei Yang – one of the world’s finest classical guitarists – immediately transports us from our dreary listlessness into an exotic musical world of sunshine, passion, song, dance and technical wizardry.

My minimalist knowledge of the guitar’s technicalities allows me to give but a mere overall impression of Xuefei’s skills. As a performer she is a superb musician with stunning artistry. As an arranger she knows her instrument intimately – what is (and what is not) possible, the available tone colours et al...

This was an inspirational experience. Too soon you had to return to reality!

Brian Paynes