Improvising East, Enchanting East 東西跨界即興－臺灣&溫哥華

Paul Plimley (Vancouver), Shih-Yang Lee 李世揚 (Taiwan), Li Tung 董籬 (Taiwan) & Lan Tung 董籃 (Vancouver)

Sunday April 24, 2016 – 8:30-9:30pm, Performance Centre, Roundhouse

9:30pm Festival Closing 音樂節閉幕

joining the musicians on stage are Ling Husan Shen (Taiwan), Dailin Hsieh (Taiwan Art of Zheng), Ying Chun Chen (Taiwan Art of Zheng), Chun De Liu (Taiwan Ka Dao Yin), Shao Huan Hung (Taiwan Ka Dao Yin), Klaus Bru (Taiwan/UK Ka Dao Yin)

The meeting of two of the most creative pianists from the west and the east, this exciting concert will feature Paul Plimley and Shih-Yang Lee, the two piano geniuses on ONE piano. Plimley will also switch to electric guitar and vibraphone at some point to give Lee some extra elbow space. Joining them are Taiwanese painter and writer Li Tung and Taiwanese Canadian erhu player Lan Tung. This is improvisation crossing the disciplines of music and visual arts. Li improvises with large brush and bold colour inks over large canvas surrounded by the musicians. It is a feast to the ears and eyes.

Paul Plimley (Vancouver) – piano, electric guitar, vibraphone
Since the mid 1970’s Paul Plimley has been actively developing his music out of the continuum of American and European music traditions. He has played and toured with many great improvisers in jazz and new music from around the globe. Plimley has released over 30 CDs, LPs and TV music documentaries, which have been well received by many who show a passion for music beyond disco. His hundreds of compositions cover all media: orchestra, jazz bands, solo piano/marimba/guitar excursions, CD ROM, electronic music, music for modern dance, and movie soundtracks. He has developed his music to a high degree performing on piano, guitar, and the marimba/ vibraphone. As well as being a ping pong enthusiast and Finnegans Wake scholar, Paul has been known to groove in sunny warm weather in a variety of intriguing disguises. He takes comedy very seriously and has difficulty spelling the word trajedy. And he is always ready to remind us that music generates heat. “The present day composer refuses to die!” Hotcha!!

Shih-Yang Lee (Taiwan) – piano
Shih-Yang Lee, from Taipei, has performed and recorded in Asia and Europe, among others with illustrious names like Sabu Toyozumi, Fred van Hove, Sainkho Namtchylak, Carlos Zingaro, Umezu Kazutoki, Tobias Delius, Luc Houtkamp, and many more. In addition, he has made himself a name as a composer and performer in some of the best drama and dance companies in Taiwan. His live album “Galactic Alignment” won the “Honorary Mention of the New Releases of the 2014 of New York City Jazz Record.

Li Tung (Taiwan) – painting
Born in 1971 in Taipei, Li graduated from the School of Visual Arts at the National Taiwan University of Arts. An artist crossing many genres, he is a painter, writer, performing artist, installation artist, and designer. Since 2010, Li started to perform live painting with improvising musicians and dancers. He joined the acclaimed MAFIA Ensemble, the leading force in Taiwan’s experimental and improvisational arts scene, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary practices. Li has collaborate with numerous Taiwanese and Japanese artists at “Create Music” festival. In the past 20 years, his artworks has been exhibited at various galleries in Taiwan, including the Taipei Arts Gallery. He is a member of “May Artists Collective”, Taiwan’s most influential and longstanding artists collection. Li’s novels and short stories have won numerous awards. He has been published in Taiwan and China. He also directed a theatre production in 2013.   

Lan Tung (Vancouver) – erhu & vocal
Crossing between Vancouver’s new music, improvised music and world music scenes, erhu/Chinese violin performer and composer Lan Tung is the artistic director of the Orchid Ensemble, Sound of Dragon Society, and Proliferasian. Lan has appeared as a soloist with Orchestre Metropolitain (Montreal) and Symphony Nova Scotia, and as a soloist/composer with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble (Vancouver), Upstream Ensemble (Halifax), Atlas Ensemble (Amsterdam & Helsinki), and Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taipei).  Lan’s compositions are released on numerous CDs, winning an International Independent Music Awards and multiple nominations by the JUNO Awards, Canadian Independent Music Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, and Western Canadian Music Awards. Originally from Taiwan, Lan has studied graphic score with Barry Guy, improvisation with Mary Oliver, Hindustani music with Kala Ramnath, and Uyghur music with Abdukerim Osman, in addition to her studies of Chinese music since a young age. At the Vancouver Creative Music Institute (2007-2009), she has studied and performed with Han Bennink (Holland), Barry Guy, Evan Parker, John Butcher (UK), Francois Houle, Paul Plimley…etc.

Ling Hsuan Shen – sheng (Chinese mouth organ)
Shen has studied music in conservatory training since elementary school. She studied the sheng with Tsai Mei-Hua, Chen Hsiao-Ping, Huang Lung-Yi and Su Wen-Cheng; music theory with Yu Hsing-Yi and Huang Chao-Ying. She received her master degree in sheng performance from the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. Shen has won many music awards, including the first prize of the Sheng Solo Competition organized by Chinese Music Association, Taiwan, R.O.C. She has given solo recitals in many prestigious venues, including the National Concert Hall, Taipei City Government Performance Hall, the Metropolitan Hall of Taipei Cultural Center, and Forum Music. Ling is a soloist with Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra and a member of Taipei Chinese Orchestra Academy Orchestra and Taipei Youth Chinese Orchestra. Shen teaches the sheng at a number of schools in Taiwan.

沈翎玄－笙
畢業於東門國小、中正國中、復興高中音樂班、中國文化大學中國音樂學系、中國文化大學藝術學院音樂學系中國音樂組碩士班。主修笙，先後師事：蔡美華老師、陳小萍老師、黃朧逸老師、蘇文慶老師。音樂理論先後師事：于興義老師、黃朝英老師。現任台北市立國樂團附設學院樂團、台北青年國樂團、小巨人絲竹樂團團員，並為多所國中、小學笙分部指導老師。