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Wu Fei is a composer /
performer / improvisor / vocalist from Beijing, China; who began her music
journey on the ancient Chinese stringed instrument called guzheng at the age
of 6. She studied composition at the China Conservatory of Music and holds a
Masters in Composition from Mills College (U.S.).
Internationally renowned artists and ensembles have performed Wu Fei’s
compositions in Beijing, London, Taipei, New York City, Venice, and San
Francisco.
As a commissioned composer for Percussions Claviers de Lyon (France), Wu
Fei's new composition "SHE HUO" premiered in the Forbidden City
Concert Hall in Beijing in April 2007; she also accompanied PCL for this new
work. Wu Fei has been a composition grant recipient from Meet the Composer
(NYC) as well as a commissioned composer for Melody of China (San Francisco).
Wu Fei has collaborated with composers/performers such as Alvin Curran, Fred
Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, Joelle Leandre, Meredith Monk, Ikue Mori, Pauline
Oliveros, Kazue Sawai, Elliott Sharp, Cecil Taylor, and I Nyoman Windha of
Bali.
Since the summer of 2006, Wu
Fei has conducted a series of collaborations and tours in Europe and China.
Collaborators include Percussions Claviers de Lyon, Elliott Sharp, Beijing
New Music Ensemble, Guo Yue, Beppe Gambetta, Fulvio Maras, etc. She has performed at festivals including
INCONTRI 2006, Baafestival of Milano, Madame Guitar Festival, and the Beijing
MIDI Festival. In the fall of 2006,
she appeared in the “Shan Qi” (“Mountain Energy”) music DVD (scheduled for
release on Ozella Records in fall 2007), filmed in the Alpine Mountains of
Italy, and presented the first Shan Qi concert in the Centro Culturale
Candiani in Venice.
Wu Fei’s debut solo album, entitled “A Distant Youth” and produced by
Giovanni Amighetti, presents some of her original guzheng / vocal
compositions and improvisations. “A Distant Youth” is a marriage of the
artist's traditional Chinese music roots and her contemporary compositional
approach. The album is scheduled for international release on Forrest Hill
Records in September 2007. The album will also feature the amazing talents of
music legends Fred Frith, Carla Kihlstedt, and Helge Andreas Norbakken.
Wu Fei has composed music for solo instruments, string quartets, choirs,
orchestras, modern and traditional dance, film, and chamber ensembles. She
appears on Fred Frith's album “Eye to Ear II” (Tzadik, review in "The
Wire", April 2004.) She also appears on Frith's soundtrack for the
documentary film “Thirst” (PBS) as well as his newest record, “The Happy End
Problem” (ReR).
In the fall of 2007, Wu Fei will begin
another series of performances in various festivals and events in Europe,
North America, and China to promote her solo album “A Distant Youth” and the “Shan
Qi” DVD.
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