Music Beyond Sound: An American's World Of Guqin 2019

"He soars beyond the ordinary world to bring the beauty of the qin to music lovers worldwide."

Why should a Westerner spend so much of his life in something so Chinese?

Made by veteran Hong Kong filmmaker Lau Shing-hon over 10 years, Music Beyond Sound tells the story of an unlikely guqin master. In 1974, John Thompson, an American, went to Taiwan, then Hong Kong, to study Chinese and the ancient silk string guqin (7-string zither). After 45 years he plays on, still inspired by the beauty of the music and by the culture that produced it. And In 2010 he was the only non-Chinese among 14 masters the Zhejiang Museum had invited to play in a concert featuring guqins from the Tang dynasty over 1000 years ago. With an indepth interest and insight in both Western and Chinese classical music, John Thompson and his musical journey is an embodiment of East-West cultural exchanges and mutual appreciation.