Classical guitarist Yang Xuefei returning to Hong Kong for concert

Classical guitarist Yang Xuefei has lived in London since 2000, but spends much of her life on the road between concert engagements. Today, she's in Boston, straight off the plane from London, and has just checked into her hotel in time for this interview. In Hong Kong, it's noon; there, it's midnight.

"I still love travelling, although it can be tiring," says Yang, 38. "Mostly it's the jetlag, but I've been to more than 50 countries, and I see so many different ways of living. It helps keep your mind open.

"And of course, being a musician, the ultimately rewarding thing is to communicate with people. It fascinates me going to different places where I don't speak the language or know the culture, but find that through the music we can understand and communicate with each other."

Despite the international itinerary, Yang still plays regularly in China, where she was born and brought up, and this year is the artistic head of the Changsha International Guitar Festival.

She has a loyal following in Hong Kong, where she last performed in 2012 at City Hall. She will be back in October, again at City Hall, sharing the same stage with English tenor and renowned lieder interpreter Ian Bostridge. It will be Bostridge's Hong Kong debut and Yang, who has collaborated with him before, is looking forward to the concert.

"I'm playing a few solo pieces, including some De Falla and Debussy from my CD, and then with Ian Bostridge we are performing Dowland, Schubert and Britten together. Britten wrote a song cycle Songs From The Chinese, so that's particularly appropriate to perform in China," she says.