Live Earth China @ Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower * 12 Girls Band (751054263)

12 Girls Band (, sometimes abbreviated to 女樂 or 女乐) are an all female Chinese musical group that initially consisted of twelve members before the addition of a thirteenth. Twelve Girls Band use

traditional Chinese instruments Chinese musical instruments are traditionally grouped into eight categories known as (). The eight categories are silk, bamboo, wood, stone, metal, clay, gourd and skin; other instruments considered traditional exist that may not fit these group ...

to play both traditional Chinese and

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

music. Formed on June 18, 2001, the women were selected by audition from more than 4,000 contestants. Each woman is classically trained, and the band members come from various conservatories in the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

(PRC), including the China Academy of Music, the Chinese National Orchestra, and the

Central Conservatory of Music The Central Conservatory of Music () is a prestigious leading public music school of China and a member of Double First Class University Plan and former Project 211. Its campus is in the Xicheng District of Beijing, China, near Fuxingmen Statio ...

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History

Chinese

numerology Numerology (also known as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, of the letters in ...

gave Wang Xiao-Jing the idea for the ''Twelve Girls Band''. When Xiao-Jing decided he wanted to create a female ensemble, he knew it needed 12 members. Per Chinese mythology it is the twelve jinchai (12 hairpins) representing womanhood. For the new project, the women were inspired by the art of the Yue Fang, the ensembles who played in the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

courts during the years A.D. 618 to 907. The group debuted their modern compositions on ancient instruments in China and Japan during the Northern summer of 2003. In Japan their debut album topped the charts for 30 weeks. Their debut album, entitled "Eastern Energy," was released in North America in August 2004 with cover versions of

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University ...

's "Clocks" and

Enya Enya Patricia Brennan (; ga, Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin; born 17 May 1961), known professionally by the mononym Enya, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician known for modern Celtic music. She is the best-selling Irish solo arti ...

's "Only Time" included, and a massive television advertising campaign announcing the group's arriva

Among the instruments used by the women:

erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two- ...

(Chinese

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, the ...

pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ran ...

(pear-shaped lute),

guzheng The zheng () or gu zheng (), is a Chinese plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25, or 26 strings, is long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from '' Paulownia'' wood. Other ...

(

zither Zithers (; , from the Greek word ''cithara'') are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat ...

), yangqin (

hammered dulcimer The hammered dulcimer (also called the hammer dulcimer) is a percussion- stringed instrument which consists of strings typically stretched over a trapezoidal resonant sound board. The hammered dulcimer is set before the musician, who in more tr ...

), dizi (transverse

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedles ...

), and xiao (

vertical flute The vertical flute is either (1) a rim-blown (notched or unnotched) flute, (2) a tubular duct flute, with tapered bore or (3) a transversely blown flute, Giorgi flute, designed to be played in an upright position. The vertical flute is contraste ...

). Occasionally, the

duxianqin The ''duxianqin'' is a Chinese plucked string instrument with only one string; it is derived from the Vietnamese ''đàn bầu''. Chinese sources describe duxianqin as being an instrument of the Jing (also spelled Gin or Kinh) ethnic group, who ...

(single-stringed zither) and

hulusi The ''hulusi'' (traditional: 葫蘆絲; simplified: 葫芦丝; pinyin: húlúsī), also known as the cucurbit flute and the gourd flute is a free reed wind instrument from China, Vietnam and the Shan State and by the indigenous people of ...

(three-piped gourd flute) are employed.

Performances

In July 2003, ''

Beautiful Energy ''Beautiful Energy'' is the first album by Twelve Girls Band. It consists of fifteen songs played in a modernized Chinese form. It was released in 2003. Track list # "Miracle" # "Freedom" # "Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Hana is a song recorded ...

,'' their first album in Japan, reached the top of the J-pop chart. They won

Japan Gold Disc Award The is an award presented by the Recording Industry Association of Japan in the field of music. Categories *Artist of the Year *New Artist of the Year *Best Enka/Kayokyoku Artist *Best Enka/Kayokyoku New Artist *Single of the Year *Song of the ...

in 2004. The Twelve Girls Band toured in the United States in 2004 ''Miracles'' tou

and again in 2005. On July 7, 2007, the Twelve Girls Band performed at the Live Earth concert, Shanghai, Chinese leg of

Live Earth Live Earth was an event developed to increase environmental awareness through entertainment. Background Founded by Emmy-winning producer Kevin Wall, in partnership with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, ''Live Earth'' was built upon the be ...

in Shanghai, and were accompanied by the

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

folk singer

Lila Downs Ana Lila Downs Sánchez (born 9 September 1968 * *) is a Mexican singer-songwriter. She performs her own compositions and the works of others in multiple genres, as well as tapping into Mexican traditional and popular music. She also incorporat ...

The Italian

Soprano A soprano () is a type of classical female singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hz to "high A" (A5) = 880& ...

Giorgia Fumanti Giorgia Fumanti (born February 22, 1975) is an Italian soprano singer of operatic pop and crossover music based in Montreal, Canada since 2002. She is also a composer, producer and arranger. Her debut EMI album ''From My Heart'' reached the top 20 ...

performed with the group in October and November 2007, on their North American tour. The tour traveled to the Midwest, and the East and West Coast areas of the US and Canad

In 2008, the yang qin player, Ma Jing Jing did concerts playing the yangqin and guzheng.

Members (by instrument)

Erhu The ''erhu'' (; ) is a Chinese two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a ''Southern Fiddle'', and is sometimes known in the Western world as the ''Chinese violin'' or a ''Chinese two- ...

(二胡; often referred as a "two-string fiddle") **秦子婧 (Qin Zijing) **上官振楠 (Shangguan Zhennan) **于秋実 (Yu Qiushi) **金晶 (Jin Jing) **羅翩翩 (Luo Pianpian) *

Pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ran ...

(琵琶; a four-stringed instrument) **石娟 (Shi Juan) **仲宝 (Zhong Bao) * Zhongruan (中阮; a plucked string instrument, a.k.a. "Moon guitar") **臧暁鵬 (Zang Xiaopeng) * Dizi (笛子; a traverse flute) **陳雪嬌 (Chen Xuejiao) **廖彬曲 (Liao Binqu) * Yangqin (扬琴; a

) **孙莉莉 (Sun Lili) **田超（Tian Chao） **張静 (Zhang Jing) **馬亜晶 (Ma Ya Jing) *

Guzheng The zheng () or gu zheng (), is a Chinese plucked zither. The modern guzheng commonly has 21, 25, or 26 strings, is long, and is tuned in a major pentatonic scale. It has a large, resonant soundboard made from '' Paulownia'' wood. Other ...

(古箏; a plucked

) **于秋璇(Yu Qiuxuan) *

Duxianqin The ''duxianqin'' is a Chinese plucked string instrument with only one string; it is derived from the Vietnamese ''đàn bầu''. Chinese sources describe duxianqin as being an instrument of the Jing (also spelled Gin or Kinh) ethnic group, who ...

(独弦琴/獨弦琴; a one-stringed pucked instrument) **唐小媛(Tang Xiaoyuan)

Discography

Studio albums (original works)

* ''Joshi Juni Gakubou -

'' (CD and DVD, 2003) - first Japanese album * '' Kikou - Shining Energy -'' (CD and DVD, 2004) - second Japanese album * '' Eastern Energy'' (CD and DVD, 2004) - first USA album * '' Tonkou - Romantic Energy -'' (CD and DVD, 2005) * '' Romantic Energy'' (CD and DVD, 2005) - published in the US * ''Shanghai'' (2007) * ''Perfect Best'' (2010) (CD) - published in Japan (Last two song introduce Alive2. One of the spinoff groups formed by members of 12 Girls Band) * ''Alive2Again'' (2013) spinoff groups formed by members of 12 Girls Band * ''Beautiful and Shining'' - 15th Anniversary Album (CD 2016) - published in JapanTaken off album cover * ''Shining Energy (2017)

Studio albums (tributes and covers)

* ''Red Hot Classics'' (CD, DVD and VCD, 2004) * ''Tribute to Wang Luobin'' (CD and DVD, 2004) * '' Merry Christmas To You'' (2005) - Christmas album published in Japan * ''The Best of Covers'' (2005) - Covers of mostly Japanese songs * ''Not so White Christmas'' (CD and DVD, 2005) * '' Twelve Girls of Christmas'' (2005) - Christmas album published in the US

Studio albums (compilations)

* ''Freedom (Greatest Hits)'' (2 CDs, 2004)( its origin is An Ottoman Classical Composition composed by Santuri Ethem Efendi. The name of the piece is şehnaz longa) * ''The Best of 12 Girls Band'' (2006) - Korean version available

Live albums

* '' Meili Yinyuehui 魅力音乐会'' (CD, 2001 - limited Press) - Original Debut CD * ''Kiseki/Miracle Live'' (CD, DVD and VCD, 2003) * ''Twelve Girls Band Live at Budokan Japan 2004 (DVD, 2004) * ''Journey to Silk Road'' (

VCD Video CD (abbreviated as VCD, and also known as Compact Disc Digital Video) is a home video format and the first format for distributing films on standard optical discs. The format was widely adopted in Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the ...

, 2005) Most of these CDs were released in different versions for in the US, China, Hong Kong and Macau, Japan, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Korea. Please see the official individual album page for information on how the tracklist differs.

References

External links

Official WebsiteYahoo GroupTwelve Girls Band Official Site女子十二乐坊
{{Authority control All-female bands Chinese musical groups Chinese musical instrument ensembles Musical groups established in 2001