Taiwan percussionist headlines Croatian fest's closing concert

Taipei, Jan. 30 (CNA) Taiwanese percussionist Wu Pei-ching (吳珮菁) headlined the International Percussion Ensemble Week (IPEW) closing concert in Croatia last week, where she shared her pioneering "six-mallet techniques," according to event organizers.

Wu played the xylophone along with a group of students from the Taipei National University of the Arts to close the annual musical event in Bjelovar, Croatia, on Jan. 25.

In an Instagram post on Tuesday, the musicians said the concert had been a great success.

The percussionist, who last attended the IPEW in 2015, performed three concertos with the students, and gave a solo performance of "The Night of Lilith" by composer Liu Wei-chih (劉韋志), according to information published on the IPEW's website.

In December, Wu premiered Liu's piece commissioned in 2014 in Taiwan, with new stage directions added by the composer to the piece inspired by Lilith, a mythological figure, according to a press statement.

Wu, who is a full-time professor at the university, also gave a talk on the techniques that have been in development since 1994. Her findings were published in "Performing with Six Mallets on Marimba -- Exploration and Breakthrough of Peiching Grip" in December, according to the IPEW.

The IPEW describes the Peiching Grip as "unique," while Wu told CNA in an interview last year that she developed the techniques solely to enrich the sound of the xylophone.

"It does not mean (playing with) six mallets is better than two or four, or that eight would be better. These techniques were developed to serve the music," she said.