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Xuefei Yang Beijing-born guitarist and musical pioneer Xuefei Yang’s solo performance opened the second day of Culture Summit Abu Dhabi. She played Chinese music adapted for classical guitar and combined this with Spanish guitar repertoire. Yang’s arrangement and rendering of the Sword Dance by Xu Changjun was inspired by Tang Dynasty-era poetry by Du Fu, evoking imagery of piercing arrows, flying dragons and furious lightning, with tremolo and percussive attacks. Yang also gave a masterclass at Bait Al Oud Abu Dhabi, displaying again her ability to navigate between musical traditions by performing with the students and teachers of the music school. Yang is acclaimed as one of the world’s finest classical guitarists and a musical innovator. Her fascinating journey began after China’s Cultural Revolution, a period in which western musical instruments and music were banned. Ms Yang was the first guitarist in China to enter a music school and progressed to become the first internationally-recognised Chinese guitarist on the world stage. Gramophone magazine praised Yang as one of the leading innovators of her generation. 137