Glacier Symphony presents the Orchid Duo, performing a unique blend of Chinese and World Music for one night only in Whitefish. An intriguing night of world music featuring the exotic sound of the Chinese erhu, two-string violin, accompanied by a bright mix of percussion on marimba and various hand drums will be performed Saturday, April 11, when the Glacier Symphony presents the “Orchids in Spring” concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Whitefish Performing Arts Center. The Orchid Duo, consisting of Lan Tung on erhu and Jonathan Bernard on percussion, are special guests.

“A flawless bridge between Eastern and Western traditions, a musical adventure on the Silk Road,” is how one reviewer described the Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada-based duo that have been collaborating since 1997.

The Whitefish concert will offer a repertoire of Chinese classical music arrangements and original compositions written by different Vancouver composers.

“But what we are doing has no precedent — it doesn’t fit into any one genre,” Bernard said, laughing. “Our music is a mix of the old and new. Expect to hear a lot of musical influences from Jewish, East Indian, Arabic, jazz and contemporary Western styles.”

Lan Tung said that the erhu, a string instrument, originated in Central Asia and crossed to western China’s Sichuan province on the Silk Road more than 1,000 years ago.

“But it has gone through a lot of changing in the last hundred years, adding techniques that have made the instrument more expressive,” she said.

Lan explained that the erhu has no frets and note changes are achieved by the amount of finger pressure on the two strings without pressing them against the wooden neck.

“It is a balance between the pressure of the bowing and the pressure on the string that makes the different notes,” she said.

Born in Taiwan, Lan trained at Taiwan’s Chinese Cultural University, then went on to study with erhu virtuosi Jiebing Chen in San Francisco and Zhang Funming in Beijing. Later she studied with Hindustani violinist, Kala Ramnath, in Bombay, and Egyptian violinist Dr. Alfred Gamil in Cairo. Her love of composition blossomed and Lan has premiered numerous contemporary works and performed as a soloist with orchestras throughout Europe and Canada.

The Orchid Duo tours regularly across North America, giving more than 70 performances every year at concert halls, educational institutes and prominent world, jazz and folk music festivals. Recently they did shows at the National Concert Hall in Taipei then returned to North America for concerts in Alberta, Colorado, New Mexico, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri and North Carolina, finishing up in Kentucky and Tennessee.

Bernard’s contribution to the Orchid Duo is a bit more eclectic. He combines his background in Western percussion with a fascination for Asian traditions. His interests span from orchestral music to contemporary chamber music to world music. Currently he is the principal percussionist with the Vancouver Island Symphony. He studied traditional and contemporary Chinese percussion in Beijing, Arabic percussion in Cairo, Carnatic rhythm in South India, and Flamenco compas in Spain, and incorporates a myriad of percussion instruments into the duo’s music. Bernard notes that though the marimba originated in Africa, it is not foreign to China.

“Marimbas originated in Africa hundreds of years ago and arrived in Canton via the south China sea in the 16th century as the xylophone, and were used in traditional Chinese music. But marimba has become an international instrument and with its deep range of notes it has now become popular in China and is often used in contemporary arrangements,” he explained.

“We specialize in diversity,” Bernard added.

Exploring the origins of their instruments has led the two musicians along several musical paths. Most frequently they play together as the Orchid Ensemble, including a zheng (Chinese zither) player, and their music traces the ancient trade route of the Silk Road.

The Orchid Ensemble has done many special projects that are a cultural exploration of the Chinese immigrant experience. Through music, dance and interactive multimedia projections above the stage, they have recorded collaborations that feature choirs, symphony orchestras and animation. Their 2005 album, “Road to Kashgar,” commemorates the history of Jewish communities living in China going back to the 10th century. In 2005 the album received a JUNO Award, Canada’s highest music honor. One of the songs they will perform for the Whitefish concerts is “Yaribon” from the “Road to Kashgar” album, an arrangement of an Ashkenazi sacred song that they describe as “Jewish Chinese Fusion.”

“It is a contemporary tribute to the fusing of these cultures,” Bernard said.

Tickets for the “Orchids in Spring” concert are available now: $18 for seniors, $20 for adults, $10 for college students, and free for youth through grade 12. Tickets can be purchased online at www.gscmusic.org or by calling 407-7000, or at the venue on the day of the show.

Concert sponsors are the HealthCenter, Holiday Inn Express, KOFI and U.S. Bank.

For more information, visit www.gscmusic.org or call 407-7000.