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The international soloist and composer GUO YUE is well known in the music world for the soaring beauty and descriptive poetry of his Chinese bamboo flutes. Made from the simplest of natural materials, cut from the forests of the Sichuan Province, the sound is created by a tiny translucent paper taken from inside the bamboo, which covers one hole on the flute and vibrates with the movement of breath. Both fragile and powerful, it is a sound that can traverse mountains and touch the soul.
Guo Yue has performed in music festivals (including WOMAD), theatres and arts venues worldwide, collaborating with many musicians, singers and composers, and touching audiences both large and small with the eloquent beauty and descriptive power of his music and words. His bamboo flutes can be heard on the soundtracks of Bertolluci’s Oscar-winning film The Last Emperor and the Emmy-award-winning Channel Four documentary series Beyond the Clouds.
He is also becoming well known as a specialist in Chinese home cooking. His memoir, MUSIC, FOOD AND LOVE (written with his wife Clare Farrow, published by Portrait, and accompanied by a CD of the same name, released by Real World Records), tells the story of a musical childhood in the old alleys and courtyards of Beijing, before and during the Cultural Revolution. This book is the first story to have come out of the Beijing alleys (the Hutongs), and is unique in showing history through the eyes of a child who discovered, in the colours of vegetables, the rhythms of chopping, the movements of a kite and the flight of a dragonfly, the freedom to express himself.
www.guoyuemusic.com
‘I have heard Guo Yue play his music … and guarantee he delivers in a magical way.’
PETER GABRIEL
‘In Guo Yue’s hands the ba-wu flute becomes a magical voice that haunts the soul.’
PHIL AGLAND, film director
‘One of the greatest flute players in the world.’
GEORGE FENTON, film composer
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Multi-percussion player and drummer RENZO SPITERI is a sought-after independent musician distinguished by his ability of adapting to a wide range of musical styles - jazz to classical, from solo percussion performances to fusion, contemporary, folk and world music. With a professional music career spanning more than 25 years, he has established himself as a leading percussionist, creative artiste and session musician renowned for staging outstanding live performances in concert halls, theatre productions as well as art exhibitions.
Based in Malta (Europe), Renzo’s concert schedules have taken him on a beautiful musical journey across the globe, from Greenwich Village (New York City) to South Korea. He has performed in major festivals (WOMAD, Festival of the Desert, Musica Viva, PASIC) and theatres, and has worked alongside exceptional musicians to the likes of Trilok Gurtu, N’faly Kouyate (Afrocelt Sound System), Guo Yue, Mercan Dede and Mousse Ndaiye (Youssou n’Dour). Through his ongoing World Music Projects, Renzo regularly engages musicians from various ethnic communities to collaborate and create unique musical dialogues. These cross-cultural exchanges and concerts have consistently mesmerised and intrigued audiences, and in 2008 Renzo was appointed Ambassador for the European Union’s campaign “Year for Intercultural Dialogue”.
His creative and inventive approach to challenging projects has earned him high-profile assignments from local entities, foreign diplomatic bodies and international arts councils. He has scored music for the visitors’ audio guide of Hal-Saflieni Hypogeum, Malta (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), performed the contemporary “Sounds Unlimited” during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting 2005 (presented by The National Arts Council of Northern Ireland and The British Council), presented installation performance “Re:Public” as closing event celebrating Cork (Ireland) as European Cultural Capital, and “Sketches from Home” performed during the Festival of Cultures in Viareggio (Italy) (by invitation of the Italian Ministry of Culture). Locally, Renzo leads his own Latin Jazz Quintet and works very closely with the contemporary Contact Dance Company (Malta), writing music and performing live on stage with the company in Malta and across Europe. He was also featured on a national level in adverts and campaigns to help raise awareness about social issues (Fairtrade, Iniziamed, Inspire – Foundation for Inclusion) and environmental themes (commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment, Malta).
As an educator, Renzo has collaborated with the music departments at Queen’s University (Belfast), University of Iowa (USA) and China Conservatory of Music (Beijing). His residency/research period at the Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC) in Belfast (N. Ireland) highlighted his enthusiasm for more contemporary and experimental presentations of percussive music, merging the resonance of “found objects” and more conventional percussion instruments with live-electronic manipulation. In 2005, he released a solo album with his own original works for percussion. Aptly entitled “This is my language”, the album is a collection of “sketches” using traditional as well as unconventional percussive instruments, and is described by the artiste as “a personal statement, an inner voyage … like an abstract painting, there to be perceived by every individual”.
Renzo is an internationally endorsed artiste for world leading companies Toca Percussion, Paiste Cymbals and Gibraltar Hardware, and is supported by Yamaha Drums and Olimpus Music (Malta).
www.renzospiteri.com |
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BEN MURRAY is fast becoming well known as an accordion, piano and keyboard artist, with a sensitivity in his playing that is matched by the poetry of his voice. Born into a family of musicians in the Cumbrian countryside, Ben studied sculpture before pursuing a career as a musician and singer. As a founder member of TARRAS, he was nominated for a Mercury Music award and two Radio 2 folk awards (Best Original Song and Best Newcomer): with the band he performed in many festivals worldwide.
Ben has released two recordings on Topic Records and one on Rounder Records in the USA, touring throughout Europe and America. He has also written music for television. In 2005, Ben was invited to record on Guo Yue's new album, 'Music, Food and Love' (Real World Records, 2006), and has since performed with Yue in Womad festivals (Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Singapore) and other international venues, receiving acclaim for his emotive accompaniment and sensitive interpretation of Yue's music. |
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