- country:China
- style(s):Chinese, Experimental
- label:Forrest Hill Records
- type:Solo, Composer/Songwriter
- gender:female
- instrumentation:instrumental, vocal
- artist posted by:Arvmusic - chiessiproductions
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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.