Founded a decade ago in Taipei (Taiwan), A Moving Sound (AMS) pushes the boundaries of ethnic music by combining the modern and traditional, the East and the West, ancient instruments with modern sounds. Founded by Taiwanese singer Mia Hsieh and American musician Scott Prairies, the Taiwan-based music group will play their first US tour this and next month.
Their appearances will include a UC Berkeley’s colloquium on “Performing Taiwan: From Ethnography to Practice” at 4pm, Monday, October 3 (http://events.berkeley.edu/?event_ID=47340&date=2011-10-03&tab=all_events) followed by a concert that evening at Freight and Salvage at 8pm (www.thefreight.org) ). On Wednesday, Oct 5, they will also perform at CSU Monterey Bay World Theatre at 7:30pm.
Timed for the centennial of the Republic of China (Taiwan), the music of AMS has been praised by critics and world music advocates. Among them, Tom Pryor, from the National Geographic World Music, who called them “one of the most original outfits working in the world music arena today.” Theodore C. Levin, a noted Dartmouth University ethnomusicologist and first executive director of Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project described it as “really beautiful, and beautifully presented.”
The group has been featured on BBC Radio, The Huffington Post, Taiwan Public TV, the Discovery Channel, the Lonely Plant television series and various other programs. Come and hear the eloquent infusion of Eastern sounds married with the avant-garde styles that is a part of modern Taiwan today.
Open your sense to the visual splendor and A Moving Sound as they performance in Northern California. Discover traditional Chinese music reinterpreted to include aboriginal dialect, popular folk tunes, ancient poems and several compositions that make the performance a truly moving one.