This blog post is by Biblio Lotus team member Niki G., Flowing Wells Library.
Lunar New Year, which will occur this year on January 29 for most cultures that celebrate it, is the Year of the Snake. Many countries, as well as Asian diaspora communities, celebrate Lunar New Year. In Vietnamese communities, it is called Tết and in Korean communities, it is called Seollal. It is celebrated in China, and many people have heard of Chinese New Year traditions. It is also celebrated in Singaporean, Malaysian, Philippine, Indonesian and other cultures.
Jasmine Asian Music Ensemble performs Asian music on a variety of traditional Chinese instruments. Through music and songs, played in traditional Chinese costumes, they share cultural experiences via bamboo and silk tunes. They encourage audience participation to sing or dance and play with them, to learn a bit of Mandarin, and to get close to the musicians and their instruments.
In celebration of 2025’s Lunar New Year, Jasmine Asian Music Ensemble will perform at the following libraries:
Thursday, January 23 from 3 to 4 pm (please note, this location requires registration)
Oro Valley Library, 1305 W. Naranja Dr.
Wednesday, January 29 from 3:30 to 4:30 pm
Flowing Wells Library, 1730 W. Wetmore Rd.
Wednesday, February 5 from 3:30 to 4:30 pm
Himmel Park Library, 1035 N. Treat Ave.
I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Li Schmidt and Nan Lan of Jasmine Asian Music. It was wonderful getting to know them better. Check out our discussion!
I've been fortunate to hear you play three times. It has been a busy few years for you. Would you share some background about the group? How did you and Nan meet?
We met at the Summer Thunder Chinese Music Ensemble. Staff at the Richard Elías-Mission Library invited Summer Thunder for a New Year performance, but Summer Thunder had to cancel due to a lack of musicians. I contacted library staff and asked if they could take two of us, me and Nan, as two individual performers. I told them, "We will fill your one hour with fun." It was such a success and so wonderful! So many kids were there. From that day on, Nan and I began performing together, particularly at libraries. (Dr. Schmidt)
You often have a guest or two who sing or play different instruments with you. How did you meet the other folks who performed with your group?
Usually through a friend's circle, like Nan’s neighbor. (Dr. Schmidt)
Yeah, sometimes we invite guests to perform with us and sometimes not. We have at least three instruments. I can play yangqin and guzheng and erhu, and Li can also play erhu and sing. We can both perform a complete presentation for the library and sometimes we invite a guest. (Nan)
We like to involve other people because that brings more variety of tastes. For example, Nan’s neighbor, I heard she really likes singing so we invited her and another time, another guy was visiting from Cincinnati and he’s one man with all the instruments in his trunk, and we're like, “Hey, do you want to play with us?” He played all the different national anthems. One year we played Israel, Taiwan and Philippine anthems. I said, "You've got to play the U.S. anthem, too. Our friends—and their friends—are enthusiastic when we involve them. The audience is always a part of our playing group. (Dr. Schmidt)
How did you both learn to play your respective instruments, and what kind of musical training did you receive?
When I was six years old, I learned to play the erhu, a two-stringed instrument, from my father. My father played it very well. The instrument is 2-stringed. The erhu is very good for blue music. As a child, when I heard blue music, I felt very sad. I told my parents that I didn't want to learn that instrument. I wanted to learn an instrument that made me happy. One day, my mother's friend brought the yangqin to our house and played it for us. When I heard the music - oh, so happy, so happy! I told my parents I really wanted to learn to play it. My mother's friend brought his yangqin to our house and came to teach me.
Since that time, I thought if I learn an instrument, it will be this instrument. I use two bamboo sticks. The yangqin has 144 strings. The sound is very beautiful and happy. My yangqin came all the way from China when I brought it here in 2008. When I came here, I learned another instrument, the guzheng—a long instrument with 21 strings that is played with your fingers. (Nan)
We probably haven't brought the guzheng into the library you were in, because we usually have guest performers, so we either bring three instruments or bring three people for large format. Erhu is two strings so we usually say Nan can play from 2 strings to 144 strings! She also plays piano and a guitar and guqin, that is a seven-string. At Eckstrom-Columbus Library we did improv with a visitor from California who plays the violin. We didn't even rehearse, we just said, “Can we show the audience the differences and similarities between the violin and the erhu?” The audience was seeing as we performed for them. That youngster is very good, he won prizes. (Dr. Schmidt)
Wow, I remember that was impressive. Do you write a lot of music or special songs, or do you pick mostly traditional songs?
A lot of times we pick the traditional because they're already available. Sometimes we may adapt a little bit for the specific performances, but Nan and her friend composed one original song called “The Homesickness.” I more adapt the melody for medicine, like what would help us relax, what would soothe? Each time when we perform we consider the purpose of it. What is the theme, for example? For the Seed Program, we put a Seed song in there to really show support of the program. For the Year of the Snake, we will have one song with a snake in it that is very traditional and classic! Some people might recognize it. (Dr. Schmidt)
And Dr. Schmidt chooses the music for the different festivals and different seasons. (Nan)
With this upcoming Lunar New Year, do you and your family and friends have special plans or traditions that you prefer?
Usually, family will try to get together on New Year's Eve and cook something special like dumplings and other things. It's just not as elaborate as when you're back in China. January 29 is the Lunar New Year Day and hopefully after we'll have time to go to a restaurant and to celebrate. In China, it’s the Spring Festival because it’s in the spring, but we try to be inclusive now so we say Lunar New Year because Vietnamese, Philippines and Singapore celebrate like you mentioned earlier. (Dr. Schmidt)
Do you have any favorite memories of past Lunar New Year celebrations?
This is usually the time when we enjoy the most traditional dishes of the year. Like the egg roll you usually get here when you go to a Chinese restaurant and there's an appetizer—even Thai and Vietnamese restaurants have it, but it is actually the literal translation in Chinese, it’s spring roll because it coincides with the Spring Festival, like we usually don't eat it until then, at least in my culture when I grew up. It’s just like any other country’s festivals, it has its own tradition and it’s a 15-day celebration and the last day we usually eat something round. We have this round sticky rice dumplings, sesame or red bean paste or peanut, depends on the availability of the local produce. It's a symbol—people get together, reunite. It's round almost like the mooncake. It’s round and a symbol of family and friends getting together and it’s the one day that people will try to come home, the dinner table is usually round as well. There are so many dishes—meat, fish and vegetables, you name it, it’s all on the same table. (Dr. Schmidt)
Do you have one performance that stands out the most in your memory or that was a favorite performance? Do you have one aspect of performing that you love the most?
I personally don't know. We always cater to and connect with the audience. Each of them—it’s the participation. We’re performing together and so each of them is a little bit different. We always enjoy performing at libraries—they are wonderful places to be. We try to educate and have fun. I feel like every performance is enthusiastic and wonderful! Sometimes the audience will stay behind and look at the instruments, ask questions. Some people ask about language and I will show them Chinese characters. The Chinese language is like a painting. (Dr. Schmidt)
Are there some favorite books that you enjoy or that you recommend?
Books are amazing—the feel of them. I received Your Chinese Horoscope by Neil Somerville from a friend. It’s written in English and talks about all the Zodiacs. This is the Year of the Snake – is it the Earth Snake or the Fire Snake? 2025 is the year of the Wood Snake. I learned so much from this book about the Zodiacs and their meaning. Personally, I never really fostered the good habits of reading except for textbooks, when I was growing up. I usually like to read medicine related books—anything that helps with health. (Dr. Schmidt)
Dr. Schmidt, how do you incorporate music into your medicine?
Oh, I did this a couple of times for our performances. I called it “Intermission by Meditation” and we have this very short or instant reset, like when we're upset, mad or anxious and the silk bamboo music itself usually tends to calm us down. It's a work in progress and I love to receive feedback from people who are willing. There are different genres of music, but silk bamboo usually tends to be more on the slow side. I also recently adapted a lullaby from Mongolian music. It’s unique to our performance, so far as I know I don’t think anyone else is incorporating it. I call it “Music and Medicine." It’s a universal approach.
I try to give examples as the audience may be able to search and find something that resonates with them within their repertoires, because then they are in charge and in control so they can bring it out anytime they want.
Is there anything else you want to share?
Since we formed, the library has been so wonderful to us. It really gives such an opportunity to share music with everyone, so we appreciate it. (Dr. Schmidt)
