"When I open my eyes, I must sigh...I must despise the world which does not know that music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy. Music is the wine which inspires us to new generative processes, and I am the Bacchus who presses out this glorious wine to make mankind spiritually drunken."
- Ludwig van Beethoven
my father and mother
Cao Xueqin
guqin, guzheng
beijing, hutong
the summer palace
cats
old school beijing mandarin
chinese folk songs
philosophy
literature
beijing opera
film
traveling
Mills College
modern dance
open-minded people
thinking
calligraphy
galaxies
chess
tian'anmen square
chinese pop from the 30s, 40s, 70s, 80s
charlie chaplin
Leo Tolstoy
michael jackson
In addition:
beethoven, bach, schuman
messiaen, ravel
debussy, satie
stravinsky, tchaikovsky
shostakovich, mussorgsky
prokofiev, scriabin
chopin, holst
bartok, ligeti, kodaly
lutolawski, franz liszt
edvard grieg
leonard bernstein
moondog
akira kurosawa
armand bournonville
cage, stockhausen
merce cunningham, pendereski
toru takemitsu
morton feldman, edgard varèse
charles ives, samuel barber
henry cowell, conlon nancarrow
harry partch, antheil
frank zappa
raymond scott
sofia gubaidulina
george crumb, terry riley
pauline oliveros, frederic rzewski
steve reich
stevan kovacs tickmayer
jimi hendrix, prince
nirvana, charlie parker
miles davis, elizabeth cotten
ahmad jamal, franco donatoni
isang yun, john tavener
wang luo-bin, gao wei-jie
li xi'an, chen qi-gang, tan dun
wang xi-lin, farmers market
kazue sawai, cecil taylor
joëlle léandre, alvin curran
fred frith, bjork
I Nyoman Windha (Bali)
brian wilson
doc watson
hayao miyazaki
Short Bio:
Born and raised in Beijing, Wu Fei is a virtuoso composer and performer who began learning gu zheng and piano at the age of 6, started giving solo concerts at age 9, and at age 15 entered the China Conservatory of Music to study composition. After coming to the US in 2000, she went on to receive her M.A. in Composition from Mills College and a grant from "Meet the Composer". She began to diversify her sound and experiment widely, working with musicians as dynamic as John Zorn, Fred Frith, Béla Fleck, Pauline Oliveros, Carla Kihlstedt, and Cecil Taylor and also as a commissioned composer for Percussions Claviers de Lyon (piece premiered at the Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing). Wu Fei's compositions for choir, string quartet, chamber ensemble, Balinese gamelan, orchestra, film, and modern dance exhibit her remarkable skill and profound musical understanding. She has also appeared as a guest on Frith's "Eye to Ear II" (Tzadik, USA) and "Happy End Problem" (Recommended, UK) and Carla Kihlstedt's "Traineater" (Anti, USA). Wu Fei has performed in cities around the world, including New York, Rome, Beijing, Berlin, Dublin, Venice, Milano, Oslo, and San Francisco Bay Area and released her debut album in 2007, entitled "A Distant Youth" (Forrest Hill, Italy) and featuring Frith and Kihlstedt. Fall 2008 saw Wu Fei collaborating with such New York City luminaries as cellist Erik Friedlander, percussionist Billy Martin, and bassist Trevor Dunn and also serving as curator for the month of October at John Zorn's modern music venue, The Stone, in the East Village. November 2008 brought the release of her second album "Yuan" (Tzadik), a collection of chamber works and a new piece for solo piano performed by Stephen Drury. February 2009 will bring a music DVD entitled "Shan Qi" (Ozella Music, Germany), filmed in the Italian Alps and featuring the young artist and several outstanding European musicians. In 2009, Wu Fei will return to Europe and China for further concerts, collaborations, and recording projects. Wu Fei's performances on gu zheng and voice can be as delicate as lace or furious as thunder.
(full length bio & more info @www.wufeimusic.com )
Career Highlights:
-- Recent composition, “She Huo”, commissioned for Percussions Claviers de Lyon, premiered at the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing (April 2007).
-- Recorded debut album “A Distant Youth” in Italy and California (2007), which features appearances by Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, and Helge Andreas Norbaaken.
-- Appeared on Fred Frith's albums for film and dance music entitled “Eye to Ear II” (Tzadik) and “Happy End Problem” (ReR).
-- Featured artist in the New Jazz Meeting, a project spearheaded by SWR (Germany) with Fred Frith as project leader (December 2007).
-- Premier of two commissioned chamber works for Melody of China at the Herbst Theater, San Francisco (2003 and 2006).
-- Featured in world music DVD entitled “Shan Qi” filmed in the Italian Alps in fall 2006 (Ozella Records, Germany 2008).
-- Performed at the Beijing MIDI Festival attended by over 100,000 people (2007).
”Soulful, lyrical and powerful music from this remarkable young composer/performer from Beijing!” - John Zorn, describing Wu Fei's latest album “Yuan”.
”Fei's playing on the guzheng is breathtaking.” -Fred Frith
”My soul undergoes a meltdown when Wu Fei's delicate guzheng figures remind us of the frailty of purpose amidst the often overwhelming forces of life.” - Paris Transatlantic Magazine
”...Wu Fei, a Chinese guzheng player who shocked the sold-out crowd with her slashing, skittering mastery of the zitherlike instrument...” -San Francisco Chronicle
Awards:
Composer Fellowship, the Sally & Don Lucas Artist Residency by Montalvo Arts Center, 2009
"Yuan" Best Album of The Week - Alarm Magazine 11/25/2008
Best World Music Artist 2008 - Westword
Debut record "A Distant Youth" ranked 88th out of 913 on World Music Chart Europe 2008
**Biography in Italian**
WU FEI
Giovane virtuosa del guzheng e cantante, Wu Fei è oggi tra le più originali ambasciatrici della nuova musica cinese. Diplomatasi al China Conservatory of Music si trasferisce negli Stati Uniti e ottiene un master in composizione presso il Mills College di Oakland, California.
In America può dare continuità alla propria ricerca artistica,aprendo i propri orizzonti alle più diverse tendenze dell'avanguardia contemporanea: lavora con il compositore Frederic Rzewski e con musicisti di grande spessore come Alvin Curran, Cecil Taylor, Greg Harris, Ikue Mori e Sylvie Courvoisier. Entrata sotto l'ala protettrice di John Zorn, collabora a diverse produzioni Tzadik di Fred Frith. Dal 2006 Wu Fei frequenta con assiduità la scena europea ottenendo una commissione originale da parte del prestigioso ensemble "Percussions Claviers" di Lione, con i quali si esibisce nella Città Proibita di Pechino ad Aprile 2007, e collaborando con il flautista Guo Yue (Real World) in Shan Qi. Si è esibita in Italia suonando con Guo Yue, Patrizia Laquidara, Beppe Gambetta, Fulvio Maras, Xabier Iriondo e altri musicisti.
Virtuosa del guzheng, strumento a corde tradizionale cinese, Wu Fei è apprezzata performer e compositrice: ha partecipato a numerose sessions di studi musicologici presso prestigiose università americane.
"A Distant Youth" é il suo disco d'esordio dove il guzheng interagisce con le chitarre di Fred Frith, il violino di Carla Kihlstedt e le percussioni di Helge A. Norbakken (Mari Boine, Maria Joao). Il cd é prodotto da Giovanni Amighetti di Arvmusic. La musica dell'emigrante Wu Fei é stata scoperta negli ultimi anni dalla giovane Cina progressista che vede in lei un'ambasciatrice delle possibilità artistiche date dalla fusione della cultura musicale classica e tradizionale cinese con il jazz e l'avanguardia "libera" occidentale.
**Biography in Deutsche**
Wu Fei wurde in Beijing (China) geboren und wuchs in dieser Stadt auf. Ab
ihrem 6. Lebensjahr lernte sie traditionelle chinesische Musik sowie
westliche klassische Musik. Zwischen ihrem 8. und 13. Lebensjahr sang sie im
China National Symphony Girls.. Choir und konzentrierte sich im letzten Jahr
in diesem Chor auf Komposition. Sie wurde daraufhin auf der High School des
Chinesischen Musikkonservatoriums aufgenommen, wo sie im Hauptfach
Komposition während ihrer sechsjährigen Studienzeit und der drei Jahre im
College belegte. Während dieser Zeit studierte Wu Fei bei den
Komponisten/Professoren/Dirigenten Yang Qing, Li Xi An, Gao Wei Jie, Luo
Zhong Rong und Chu Chi Ji. Ihre Kompositionen in dieser Zeit waren
hauptsächlich vom Impressionismus und der späten Romantik geprägt. In China wurden ihre Werke vom Hua Xia Chinese Chamber Ensemble, China Conservatory Chamber Ensemble und dem Central Broadcasting Youth Choire aufgeführt.
Im Jahr 2000 ging Wu Fei an die Universität von North Texas, wo sie unter
Dr. Phil Winsor ihre Studien fortsetzte. 2001 studierte sie bei Frederic
Rzewski und von 2002 bis 2004 machte sie ihren Abschluss und studierte
Komposition/Improvisation bei Joelle Leandre, Alvin Curran und Fred Frith am
Mills College in Oakland. Während ihrer Zeit in Mills arbeitete sie unter
anderem mit Cecil Taylor, William Winant, Annie Gosfield, Meredith Monk,
Carla Kihlstedt, Kazue Sawai und Pauline Oliveros. Sie war zwei Jahre im
Mills College Gamelan Ensemble und arbeitete dort mit dem großartigen Nyoman Windha aus Bali. Seit sie in in Boulder/Colorado wohnt ist Wu Fei
kontinuierlich in der Worldmusic-Szene aktiv. Sie arbeitete mit Janet Feder,
Colin Bricker und Greg Harris. 2005 trat Wu Fei im The Stone in New York mit
Carla Kihlstedt, Ikue Mori, Sylvie Courvoisier und Kiku Day auf. Seit dem
Sommer 2006 begann Wu Fei einige Projekte und Kollaborationen in Europa,
unter anderem eine neue Komposition für die Percussions Claviers de Lyon und
spielte Konzerte und Festivals in Italien, wo sie mit Guo Yue, Beppe
Gambetta, Patrizia Laquidara u.a. spielte.
"A Distant Youth" ist ihr erstes zusammen mit Giovanni Amighetti
produziertes Solo-Album, auf dem sie ihre Guzheng/Vokal Kompositionen und
Improvisationen präsentiert. Das Album vereint die traditionellen
Chinesischen Elemente mit einem zeitgenössischen kompositiorischen Ansatz.
Ihr zur Seite stehen auf dem Album Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Helge Andreas Norbakken, und einige mehr.
Wu Fei komponierte Musik für Solo-Instrumente, Streichquartette, Chöre,
Orchester, moderne und traditionelle Tanzmusik, Filmmusik und Musik für
verschiedene Kammer-Ensembles. Ihre Kompositionen wurden in Städten wie
London, Taipei, Beijing, Cincinatti, Dallas, San Francisco und Oakland
aufgeführt. Sie trat auch solo und mit Ensembles in China, Dallas,
Cincinnati, New York, Denver/Boulder, San Francisco und Europa auf. Sie ist
auf Fred Frith neuem Film-Musik Album „Eye to Ear II" zu hören und
komponierte auch einige der Stücke mit Frith zusammen und spielte auf dem
Album ihre Guzheng.
Dear Wu Fei. Thank you for your friendship!! I adore your music... so peaceful and graceful!! God, I would love to work with you one day!!! Lots of Love. XX Franka
