Radio de Twelve Girls Band

Twelve Girls Band (traditional Chinese: ??????; simplified Chinese: ??????; pinyin: N?z? shí'èr Yùef?ng, sometimes abbreviated to ?? or ??) is a music women artists group who started with twelve members but later become thirteen, that use traditional Chinese instruments to play both traditional Chinese and Western songs. Formed on June 18, 2001, the women were selected by audition from more than 4,000 contestants. Each woman is classically-trained, and the band members come from various conservatories in the People's Republic of China (PRC), including the China Academy of Music, the Chinese National Orchestra, and the Central Conservatory of Music.[1] Chinese numerology gave Wang Xiao-Jing the idea for the Twelve Girls Band. When the "father of Chinese rock music" decided he wanted to create a woman ensemble, he knew it needed 12 members. Per Chinese mythology it is the twelve jinchai (12 hairpins) representing womanhood. The twelve women that Xiao-Jing assembled were experienced musicians from the People's Republic of China's orchestras, played ancient Chinese instruments, and all were in their twenties. For the new project, the women were inspired by the art of the Yue Fang, the ensembles who played in the Tang Dynasty courts during the years A.D. 618 to 907.