Eric Lee blends fresh elements into erhu. Provided to China Daily

Fortunately, his passion for music was rekindled by the songs of Teresa Teng (1953-1995), an influential pop singer from Taiwan.

"Teng's songs totally changed my idea about music at that time. The beautiful songs showed me that music can be gentle and close to people's emotions in their daily lives. They moved me deeply," Lee says.

The erhu artist was inspired to make crossover music that he thought was expressive and interesting.

He used the erhu in The Butterfly Lovers and Teng's songs. Later, he was influenced by foreign styles such as jazz, bossa nova, reggae and samba, which he became conversant with as a music producer, after graduating from the composition department of Central Conservatory of Music.

"I'm even considering using erhu to play rock 'n' roll. Some erhu masters may criticize me for going too far, but I don't mind," Lee says, smiling.

He admits, however, the erhu has a limited sound range and is therefore unable to play some parts.

"I will divide the melody into several parts and use the erhu to play the part in the instrument's range that sounds best. I will use other musical instruments to play the remaining parts."

For example, when Lee uses the erhu to play Bossa Nova, he will incorporate guitar, saxophone and drums in his performance.

Chen Gang, one of the composers of Butterfly Lovers' Violin Concerto, speaks highly of Lee's popularization of Chinese folk music.

He also admires Lee's passionate adaptation of his famous violin concerto and smart combination of Eastern and Western music elements in Lee's other creations.

xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn