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Foto:Li yu
WU WEI is considered to be the world’s leading avant-garde sheng (Chinese mouth-organ) soloist. After studying sheng – a 4000-year old Chinese folk instrument – at the renowned music conservatory of Shanghai as a Master’s student and working in the traditional Chinese musical Orchestra of Shanghai as a soloist, he was awarded a DAAD scholarship in 1995 to study in Berlin at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music. He has lived in Berlin ever since.
Besides winning many prestigious national and international competitions for traditional Chinese music, he won the first prize in the German music competition “Musica Vitale” in 1996 and 2002. In 2004, he won the German folk prize “Global Root” for extraordinary achievement on the German music scene as an international musician.
Wu Wei is world-renowned for his abilities in the realms of modern and improvised music, jazz-influenced music, new music, minimalist music, and numerous other styles, which he performs on his modern discant sheng of 37 pipes. He has also found hidden sounds on the instrument and creates new sound-worlds for the new music style, but in his own musical expressions and sound-colors. He uses the tableau of classical Chinese music and enhances it with contemporary structures and musical ideas. He creates new musical dimensions for traditional Chinese instrumental music.
Wu Wei’s background is Chinese classical music, combined with an extraordinary musical creativity and vitality. He joins in different interdisciplinary projects like” Music and Literature” with the famous German writer Günter Grass who has been awared the Nobel Prize in Literature 1999 and Michael Lentz; Contemporary Opera with Qu xiaosong, Guo Wenjing and Wang Lin; Contemporary Dance with Geraldo Si (Brasilien), Barbara Sarreau (Frankreich), Miho Iwata (Japan, Butoh-Dance), and I-Fen Lin (Taiwan); Musical Theater with Jörg Widmann, and Music Painting with Jean-Jacques Lemetre from Théâtre du Soleil Paris. Wu Wei draws inspiration from a wide range of collaborators, enjoying the dynamics of his interactions. He is the first musician to bring the 37-pipes sheng to the international stage.
Since 1993, Wu Wei has appeared as sheng soloist with internationally renowned orchestras and ensembles, including the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Kent Nagano, Los Angeles Philharmonic under Gustavo Dudamel, the Albany Symphony Orchestra under David Alan Miller, Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under Kazuyoshi Akiyama, the Symfonieorkest Valaanderen (Belgium) under Jonas Alber, the Munich Symphony under Heiko Matthias Foester, the Luebecker Philharmonic under Xincao Li, the Taipei Philharmonic under Martin Fischer-Dieskau, the Westfalen New Philharmonic under Samuel Bachli, the Pannonische Philharmonic Orchestra (Austria), the Metropole Orchestra Holland under Jurjen Hempel(the first concerto for sheng and Jazz Orchestra in the world by Guus Janssen) and the Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra under Renchang Fu ect.
Wu Wei has played with Ensemble Modern, Nieuw Ensemble of Holland, the Atlas Ensemble of Holland,KNM Berlin, Bayerischen Staatsoper String quartet, the Charmber Ensemble of Deustche Symphony Orchestra, Deutsche Oper String Quartet, Ensemble Musica Viva of Dresden, the Luxembourg Sinfonietta,the Cross Sound Sinfonietta (U.S.), Orchestra Utopica (Portugal), Ensemble XX Jahrhundert(Austria),Ensemble On_line(Austria), Ensemble Het Collectief Belgium among others.
Wu Wei has played in countless concerts, recitals, and in many important international venues and festivals,including the Berliner Festspiele, Bienale Munich, the Donaueschingen Musik Tage, Musica Viva Munich,Warsaw autumn, Macao international Music festival, Suntory music Foundation's Summer Festival 2009 Tokyo, Bartók Festival Hungarian Achipel Festival Geneve, Cologne Triennal, the Holland Festival, the Holland new music day, Shanghai Electronic Music Festival 2009, Festival les Musiques Marseille, Dresdner Tage der Zeitgenoessischen Musik, San Francisco Art Festival, etc.
WU Wei has been invited to play in countless international famous concert halls like: Berliner Philharmonie,Walt Disney Concert Hall Los Angeles, Suntory Concert Hall Tokyo, Konzerthaus Berlin, Konzerthaus Vienna, Gewandhaus Leipzig, Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Musikgebouw Amesterdam, Bruge Concertgebouw, Concert hall Koninklijk of Conservatorium Brussel, Théâtre du Châtelet Paris etc.
He has recently made international appearances throughout USA, Germany, France, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Hungary, Ukraine, Denmark, Russia, Polen, Czech, Romania, China, Japan, Korea, Hongkong, Macao, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Tunisia, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan etc.
He has played in more than 140 world premières of contemporary compositions (10 Concertos for Sheng and Orchestra), from composers ranging from John Cage to Unsuk Chin, Toshio Hosokawa and EnjottSchneider, Joerg Widmann to Guus Janssen, Tan Dun, Qigang Chen and Guo Wenjing, and Keeyoug Chong to Ruo Huang.
As a composer for the sheng, Wu Wei has been commissioned by the Foundation Royaument of France, theGerman Saechsischen Culture Foundation, Munich’s Musica Viva, Chicago’s Slought Foundation, ParisTheatre Malakoff, and Hamburg’s Hansa Culture Foundation. He has been an artist-in-residence with theVilla Esche of Chemnitz Mozart Society, Montbeliard Theater France, Hamburg’s Hansa Culture Center and Civitella Ranieri Foundation from New York.
Wu Wei has appeared by many important Jazz Festivals in Europe, USA and Asia and played with lots of renowned Musician like, Peter Kowald, Gunter Baby Sommer, Gottfried Boettger, Matthias Schubert, Claudio Puntin Lucas Niggli, Michael Riessler, Howary Levy, Ross Daly, Andre Goubbeek, Joe Sachse, Wolfgang Fuchs, Fernc Snetberger, Zoltan Lantos, Guus Janssen, Hans Koch, Calos Bica, Dieter Manderscheidt, Peter Jacquemyn,Tony Buck,Carlo Rizz, Ramesh Shotham, Lequan Ninh, Pavel Fajt, Christopher Dell, Mike Svoboda, Franz Hautzinger, Heinz-Erich Goerdecke, Vladimir Tarasov, Pascal Contet, Carl Ludwig Huebsch...
Wu Wei’s newest projects in 2010/2011 are the premiere performances of Unsuk Chin’s Concerto for Sheng and Orchestra with the Seoul Philharmonic under Myung-Whun Chung in Seoul, Essen, Berlin, Bergamo (Italy), Moscow in 2010, and with the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra Holland in the Concertgebouw Amsterdam in 2010; and with BBC Symphony Orchestra under Ilan Volkov in 2011, Worldpremiere performances of Enjott Schneider “Symphonic Poem Earth and Fire for Sheng and Orchestra ” with the Taipei Chinese Orchestra in 2010; Worldprimiere of YIU-KWONG CHUNG bei Schumannfest 2010, and the Contemporary Opera of Wang Lin by “Munich Biennale” and by Expo Shanghai 2010.
Wu Wei’s music has been released on numerous CDs and DVDs, such as DVD “Rhythm and Dance” with Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Kent Nagano by TDK 2000, DVD ”La Boite a musique de Jean-François Zygel” by Teleparis 2009, DVD “ Le Vent des Anches” by Ieditions, CDs “Silence is the only music” by Wergo 2009, “CageAnimations” by Wergo, “Iceberg” by Signature Radio France 2009, “International Compostion Prize Luxembourg 2008” by LGNM, “Sound Body Sound-Daniel Ott” by Musicscene Switzland, “Total Music Meeting 2002” by FMP, “Shopping in Shanghai”, “Magic Mask”, “All of rivers flow together-Sheng and Organ”(Harp), “Sheng- Organ for the mouth”(Melisma), Audio book “ Anthology Chinese Contemporary Poetry” by Alive etc.
Radio and TV stations have also introduced Wu Wei’s art to a wide range of audiences.
CDs:
Cage Animation 2006
Magic Mask 2005
Shopping in shanghai 2005
Alle Fluesse fliessen zusammen 2004 LA 75952 Klangwelten Festival 2003 KW 20021 Daniel Ott-Klang Koerper Klang 2002 MGBCD 6190 Video:"Magie in Spiel" das magische Projekt beim Tanz & Folkfest Rudolstadt 2002 Instruments: The sheng,a wind-Instrument, was mentioned in oracle bone inscriptions of the Chinese Shang dynasty as early as 1500 b.C, by the name of “he" So the instrument is looking back on more than 3000 years of history. In an old Chinese reference book we find the following entry:"Sheng"means “to grew and develop" the script sign symbolizes seeds sprouting from the ground. The main parts of the sheng are the wind-chest with a mouthpiece, the pipes and the reeds. Today the winds-chest,originally a bottle gourd and from the Tang-period on made of wood, is generally made of metal. The bamboo pipes of the sheng are set into the wind-chest in the from of a horseshoes, and the space between the pipes are big enough for a firm grip. Each pipe has on its inner side a rectangular slot, by which the air is released (called toned tone window in Chinese), whereas on the outer side there is a round hole to be closed by the fingers of the player. The blades, originally also made of bamboo, usually consist of brass nowadays. In the center of each oblong blade there is a free reed, movable to either side, which is set into vibration by the whirling air. On the Sheng sounds are produced in the following way: By blowing out and sucking in streams of air through the mouthpiece of the wind-chest, the player sets the reeds of the pipes into vibrations, which in turn initiate the columns of air inside the pipes to resonance pulsation. The pitch is deter minded by the distance between the reed of a pipe and the blow out slot above, whereas the visible length of the pipes is of no influence on it. For mere aesthetic reason the symmetrically arranged pipes are of different length. Because of its shape, reminding of ?Phoenix wings? the instrument is also called ”Phoenix Sheng" In the western world the sheng is referred to as traditional Chinese mouth organ. It is the oldest known instrument, in which the principle of the free-reed has been realized. It was only in the late 18th century, that this principle was applied to European musical instruments as for example of the harmonica, the accordeon and the organ. Modern developments of the sheng include instruments with a number of 21,24.36 or 37 pipes, the electro acoustic sheng or the giant bass sheng, that is placed upright in front of the player. The modern discant sheng allows for free changing between the keys and covers a range of three chromatic octaves. Therefore it is possible to play several tones at the same time, fugues for several voices, chords, and even clusters with the sheng. In the Chinese music the sheng is used both as an orchestral instrument. Also in the orchestral realization of regional operas of Shandong ( Shangdong Bangai), Henen (henen bangai) and Jiangsu (Kunqu) the sheng plays an important role as harmonizing and accentuating instrument. The Lusheng, also a wind-instrument, is known since the fourth century, according to our chronology. The instrument is common in the settlement areas of non-chinese ethnis in south west of China: Miao. Yao, Dong, Zhuang, Yi, Shui, kawa, Qilao and She. Originally the Lusheng consisited of six bamboo pipes. Today the pipes, set in a wooden wind-chest similar to the sheng, are arranged in a double row. The production of sound is similar to that of the sheng, too. We differentiate between three types of lusheng according to its size. The big Lusheng with a size of six to seven meters is called bass Lusheng. The pipes of the small lusheng with their length of only 20 to 30 centimeters seven to produce high pitches. The Lusheng is the accompanying instrument for the traditional lusheng dance, but it is also used as a solo instrument nowadays. The erhu is a boed-string instrument, also called Chinese spike or Huqing. The syllable “Hu"indicates its origin in the homeland of the so-called Northern Barbarians (the Mongols living in the steppe regions of North Asia.) A source from the Yuan period describes the huqing in the following way: Built like a qobuz(Turkish), with a sinuous neck crowned by a dragon head, its horsehair bow is moved between the two strings? Today the drum resonator and the long neck of the erhu built of wood. The instrument is also equipped with tuning pegs. The front of the cylindrical, hexagonal or octagonal body is covered with Snakeskin, preferably python, the back surface has carved in resonance holes. The horsehair string of the bamboo bow passes between the two strings. In our century the erhu has constantly been further developed from the fifties on. The silk strings of former time have been replaced by steel string, a second tuning peg was added, and versions with a bigger resonator were introduced, as well as resonators of a flattened tubular shape. Ensemble Dragon E-Mail: wei.wu@gmx.net Biography Press Projekts Audios Dates Links
Lightscape 2001 LC 02318
Bach meets Asian 2000 LC 08939
Hödööd 1999 LC 03592
Sheng -- Organ for the Mouth 1998 MELI 3048-2
Yulara 1997 HOMCD 45338
Crossing 1997 LC 6035
DVD: Waldb¨¹hne in Berlin 2000 "Rhythm and Dance" Kent Nagano
Sheng
Lusheng
Erhu
The core of traditional Chinese music is energy. Air, breath, tension, and energy are independent elements in the European culture. Through the basic understanding of "Qi" these elements melt together into one for a Chinese musician. This unity of feeling and melody, of thought and dynamic, allows for a flow of "Qi" and lets the body and the soul breathe freely, resulting in an extraordinary musical poetry and enchantment.