Time: Dec 11, 2022 03:00 PM – 4:30 PM Eastern Time
Location: Online Meeting
Meeting Agenda
1. Chat with new member candidates:
Tung Chen: After receiving Guqin lessons from Mr. Yang Zhi Jian’s（杨致俭老师）association（幽篁里）in Shanghai since 2013, I have continued to explore Guqin music until today. Although the start of this journey was a child’s curiosity, my yearning to improve my Guqin skills continued, especially as I moved away from China and realized the importance of appreciating one’s culture. Not only does the Guqin provide therapeutic effects throughout my daily life as a high school student, it also makes me stand out as an instrument player among my peers. There are not many people that know about traditional Chinese instruments despite their understanding of Western music, and I hope to spread more awareness through my knowledge of the Guqin while continuing to learn and practice through Qin societies.
Dan Reid: Dan G. Reid began studying guqin in October, 2021 after 20+ years of listening to guqin as a guitarist and percussionist. He is a registered massage therapist in Montreal, Canada, specializing in Tuina aka Chinese osteopathy, sports massage, and trauma medicine. Dan learned Tuina as a student of the North American Tang Shou Tao lineage of internal martial arts. Dan is a self-taught translator of Classical Chinese and author/translator of The Thread of Dao: Unraveling Early Daoist Oral Traditions in Guan Zi’s Art of the Heart-Mind (2017), and The Heshang Gong Commentary on Lao Zi’s Dao De Jing (2015).
Shanny Li: Shanny grew up in the greater NYC area but currently resides in Austin, TX. Growing up she has learned piano, but guqin has always been an interest. She has been learning how to play the guqin from Alan Yip since early 2021. Outside of the qin, Shanny has recently taken up learning how to make latte art.
Michael Bretti: Michael has been involved in the construction and learning of numerous instruments over the years, first starting with shakuhachi, shamisen and native American flute in high school. After graduating college, Michael continued to explore a number of instruments, and developed a strong interest in guqin. In 2014, Michael was introduced to the NYQS and began attending several NYQS yaiji that year.
From 2015-2016, Michael worked on the design and construction of his own silk string qin from redwood, walnut, and ebony. After completion on the qin, for the next year Michael worked on the design and tonal analysis of synthetic twisted core woven qin strings from various materials, presenting this work at the July 9th, 2016 yaiji (https://newyorkqin.com/9-july-2016/).
From 2016-2021, Michael worked on the design and construction of a unique, highly custom tsugaru shamisen, presenting the results during the April 3rd, 2022 NYQS yaji (https://newyorkqin.com/april-3rd-guqin-learning-experience-and-stories/). While his primary musical focus is currently on shamisen, Michael continued to enjoy learning about qin music and history through NYQS meetings.
2. Treasurer’s Report – Matthew gave a report of our Expenses and the Annual Receipts. Our major recurring expense is maintenance of the official website.
3. 2023 Yaji schedule and plan – Peiyou
Based on Marilyn and Andre’s suggestion, we want each yaji to have a more refined program with a little more time for discussion, therefore, I have summed up the yaji layout as the following :
a) lecture/talk – Total 60 – 90 minutes – One / or two presenters (30 – 45 minutes presenting) + Q&A (30 – 45 minutes)
b) music playing – Total 60 minutes – 5 to 6 qin players
Total 2 – 2.5 hours.
João suggested having music playing first, then lecture/talk.
In 2022, The themes we have been talking about are Guang Ling San, Modern qin music composition, Teaching/Learning qin, and Dapu. 2023, We can still expand on those topics, also welcome new topics.
Here is the Year 2023 yaji schedule plan for 10 events:
For lecture, if any member wants to present a talk, please let us know in advance. The assigned names and themes below are just suggestions.
1 – Sunday, January 22 (The first day of Chinese lunar New Year) (Taipei/ New York)
2- Sunday, February 26 (Lecture- Juni and John – 9 strings qin)
3 – Sunday, March 26 (Lecture- Shuishan or one more speaker – The relationship between Qin, calligraphy, painting and architecture)
4 – Sunday, April 23 (Lecture- Stephen or one more speaker – Modern qin music composition)
5 – Sunday, May 28 (Lecture- 1 or 2 speakers – TBD)
6 – Sunday, June 25 (Lecture- 1 or 2 speakers – TBD)
7 – Sunday, July 23 (Lecture- Shuishan or one more speaker -TBD) – The relationship between the meaning of a Qin piece and its fingerings
(Skip August)
8 – Saturday, Sept 30 (Mid autumn Full Moon Festival) or Sunday Oct 1st (Taipei/ New York)
9 – Sunday, Nov 5 (Lecture- 1 or 2 speakers) – TBD
10 – Sunday, Dec 10th (Official Meeting)
4. The presidency and the administrative posts should be filled every two years through an election by active members. — The election was held on 12/21/2022 to 12/28/2022 electronically. Members who have paid up the dues of 2022 have a right to vote.
There is a new position suggested by Marilyn: Vice President – who will help the president and society affairs
André Ribeiro 林柏儒, nominated by Marilyn Wong, seconded by Lawrence Kaster.
Andre’s words and suggestions to the society
President – Peiyou Chang, nominated by Marilyn Wong, seconded by Ralph Knag
For those who missed attending the official meeting, please watch the recording: https://youtu.be/UBDu4Hh8y9Q (This is a private video)
Attendance
 Marilyn Wong Gleysteen |  Lawrence Kaster |  John Thompson |
 Ralph Knag |  Andre Lioy |  Alan Yip |
Esmie(Ana Herrero), Peiyou Chang, Mingmei Yip, Tung Chen 陳瞳,, Matthew Flannery, Andre Ribeiro, Michael Bretti (had to leave at 4pm). Joao Oliverira, Shanny Li, Stephen Dydo (had to leave earlier for rehearsal) , Dan Reid
NYQS Election results – all nominees elected – all new members accepted
Dec 28, 2022 Election Results for 2023-2024 NYQS Election President : Peiyou Chang Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,18,100.00% No - I reject the candidate,0,0% Votes tallied: 18 Abstentions: 0 Vice President : Andre Ribeiro Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,16,100.00% No - I reject the candidate,0,0% Votes tallied: 16 Abstentions: 2 Treasurer : Matthew Flannery Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,17,100.00% No - I reject the candidate,0,0% Votes tallied: 17 Abstentions: 1 Corresponding Secretary : Marilyn Wong Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,17,94.44% No - I reject the candidate,1,5.56% Votes tallied: 18 Abstentions: 0 Secretary / Web manager : Ralph Knag Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,17,100.00% No - I reject the candidate,0,0% Votes tallied: 17 Abstentions: 1 New Member - Tung Chen Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,14,100.00% No - I reject the candidate,0,0% Votes tallied: 14 Abstentions: 4 New Member - Dan Reid Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,15,100.00% No - I reject the candidate,0,0% Votes tallied: 15 Abstentions: 3 New Member - Shanny Li Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,13,100.00% No - I reject the candidate,0,0% Votes tallied: 13 Abstentions: 5 New Member - Michael Bretti Option,Votes,Percentage Yes - I approve the candidate,15,100.00% No - I reject the candidate,0,0% Votes tallied: 15 Abstentions: 3
Agreement update:
4.2 The Vice President is responsible for assisting the president with social affairs.
6. The annual membership fees are determined in a vote by active members; they should be paid by the first meeting of the year. Income from this fee may be used to support the Society’s ongoing expenses such as the Society website and postal expenses, plus Society activities including meetings, dining expenses and/or other social engagements. Expenditures should be approved through a vote by active members. Members must have dues paid up to the current year to vote in society elections.
Membership dues for couples : $30.
Membership dues for high school students: $20.