Jen Shyu 徐秋雁, Vocalist and Composer
Photo: Miranda Litchtenstein
Born in Peoria, Illinois, USA, from Taiwanese and East Timorese parents, 2014 Doris Duke Impact Award recipient JEN SHYU is an·experimental jazz vocalist, composer, multi-instrumentalist,·dancer, producer, and·Fulbright scholar. Larry Blumenfeld (Wall Street Journal) writes, “…Ms. Shyu is among New York’s most invigorating vocal presences. And perhaps the most enigmatic.” She has produced five albums as a leader: For Now, Jade Tongue, Inner Chapters, Raging Waters and Red Sands, and is the first female artist and vocalist as bandleader on the Pi Recordings label with the widely praised album Synastry with legendary bassist Mark Dresser. After graduating from Stanford University, she became the vocalist of saxophonist Steve Coleman’s Five Elements from 2003 to 2011 and has presented her own music at Lincoln Center, Brooklyn·Academy·of Music, Bimhuis (Netherlands), Salihara Theater (Indonesia), National Gugak Center, and National Theater of Korea, to name a few. She has also·performed with Dave Burrell, Chris Potter, Michael Formanek, Mat Maneri, among others, and·in Anthony Braxton’s operas Trillium E·and·Trillium J.
Known for her specialization in lesser known and disappearing traditional musical forms in Taiwan, Korea, China, and East Timor, Shyu studied Javanese Sindhenan and dance for two years on a Fulbright scholarship in Indonesia. She also performed solo and in collaboration with Javanese artists such as Djaduk Ferianto, Eko Supriyanto, the late Ki Slamet Gundono, Mugiono Kasido, Suprapto Suryodarmo, and Peni Candra Rini. She then received a six-month scholarship from the National Gugak Center to study Pansori and Gayageum Byeongchang.
Shyu currently leads her band Jade Tongue and is touring her solo opera called SOLO RITES: SEVEN BREATHS, directed by renowned Indonesian·filmmaker-director Garin Nugroho and inspired by her travels and fieldwork over the past·decade. It premiered on·May 28, 2014, at Roulette·Intermedium, Inc. in Brooklyn, NY.
徐秋雁是活躍於紐約爵士樂壇的台美人第二代,父母徐澤濱和黎婀娜夫婦,分別來自台灣與東渧汶.徐秋雁是2014 Doris Duke Impact Award 得獎人,是一位作曲家,聲樂家,舞蹈家, 樂隊領班 (Bandleader), 能歌善舞,會多種樂器.從6歲開始學習ballet舞蹈, 7歲學鋼琴,8歲學小提琴,9歲在史特拉文斯基國際鋼琴比賽(Stravinsky) 得了第 6 名. 在13 歲和Peoria交響樂團演奏柴可夫斯基鋼琴協奏曲第一條的最後樂章。秋雁在史丹佛大學拿到聲樂表演學位,後來又去英國牛津大學 Oxford University,奧地利的 Mozarteum , 還有紐約的 Lake Placid Institute繼續進修深造.
秋雁曾參與薩克司風音樂家，2014 MacArthur Genius Awardee, Steve Coleman & Five Elements的巡迴演出及灌片. 在Bay Area製作了她的第一張專輯「For Now」（www.jenshyu.com), 並獲得了2002-2003的 ”加州藝委會下代獎金”。出版專輯「Jade Tongue」也與演員/表演藝術家Soomi Kim 一起合作她的作品”Lee/gendary” 和 “Dictee,” 和低音手Mark Dresser 合作出版 CD ”Synastry”。秋雁也sang in two operas of 薩克司風音樂家，1994 MacArthur Genius Awardee, Anthony Braxton. 華爾街日報 Larry Blumenfeld 的評語: “Ms. Shyu is among New York’s most invigorating vocal presences. And perhaps the most enigmatic.”
2009年, 恆春市長封給她恆春民謠大使的頭銜. 秋雁也在休斯頓同鄉會主辦的中秋節晚會表演她獨特的聲樂風格,以鋼琴,月琴,二胡伴奏, 用不同語言唱出融合爵士,台灣民謠,原住民歌曲的作品。秋雁持續她對逐漸勢微的各地住民傳統歌曲,舞蹈的熱衷研究學習.從2003年, 秋雁到過爸爸出生地台灣多次,研究考察台灣的民俗以及原住民音樂,也到過媽媽的出生地東渧汶還有古巴和巴西做研究.2011年秋雁拿美國政府富布賴特獎學金(Fulbright) 花近兩年的時間在印尼爪哇學習研究傳統爪哇人的Gamelan即興歌唱及舞蹈。在2013年秋雁去了韓國半年研究韓國傳統歌唱, Pansori. 最近秋雁與她的樂隊,和她的獨唱歌劇, “Solo Rites: Seven Breaths” 由印尼電影製片人, Garin Nugroho 導演,巡迴演出.
