Sheng Dong, or as it is rendered in English, A Moving Sound, is a performance company based in Taipei, Taiwan. A Moving Sound has created a new musical expression that fuses Taiwanese, Chinese and neighboring Asian musical ideas in inspired and engaging modern song compositions. Songs are performed on Chinese instruments such as the vertically held and bowed erhu and the Chinese guitar known as zhong ruan, as well as Western instruments. Transcendent vocals and dance by lead singer Mia Hsieh, transport listeners to and beyond the Far East to where only the highest art can take us.

Featuring the distinctive timbres of the erhu and zhong ruan , and the vocals of Mia Hsieh, A Moving Sound has devised a unique and compelling style that is all their own – a Taiwanese whirlwind that veers between the meditative and the exuberant with irrepressible spirit.

Fusing traditional Taiwanese influences with a global sensibility, award winning ensemble A Moving Sound built a worldwide following through their joyous mix of original music and dance.

A Moving Sound has been featured on BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio in the U.S., and on The Discovery Channel. They have performed in twenty countries including The Kennedy Center, W.O.M.A.D. (picked as a festival highlight by London Financial Times) and the Melbourne International Arts Festival. They have also performed and taught at Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, University of Massachusetts and many other respected universities.

Members:
1. HSIEH Mia 謝韻雅
2. Scott Prairie

Collaborators:
3. PAN I-Tung 潘宜彤 (Zhong ruan)
4. CHEN I-Fang陳依芳 (Erhu)
5. YEJ Wei-Jen 葉維仁 (Erhu)
6. LIAO Wei-Hsu 廖韋旭 (Percussion)
7. YEH Po-Tsen 葉柏岑 (Percussion)

Before and During the performance we invite audience to participate in Taiwanese Hands-on Artmmaking Workshop with artist Sharlene Chou.
Learn to make some tranditional  handicrafts by using lucky red envelopes with message of good luck and fortune in different shapes such as fish, lanterns, heart and fans. They are great decorations with best wishes for Holidays and party event, and can be placed  at entrances, halls, the living room, and the garden.

About the Muscians:

Mia Hsieh 謝韻雅 has created several evening length productions which explore worlds of movement, sound, and theater from her own unique perspective. Mia draws creative inspiration from her roots in Asian dance and Tai Chi movement as well as an assimilation of experimental and improvisational arts forms. Her vocal influences range from ethnic and aboriginal music to experimental music such as that of Meredith Monk. She most often performs her own created language; chanting, speaking, and singing with a deep emotion that reaches beyond words.
Mia has collaborated with visual artists, film directors, fashion designers, and created site specific works. She has been featured in a number of music, theater and dance presentations, including; “Voices from Out There” at Bowery Poetry Club in NYC; “Weereewa Festival” in Canberra, Australia; as well as numerous curated evenings of dance and music in Taipei.

Scott Prairie lived in New York City for eight years before moving to Taiwan in December of 2001. He has a diverse artistic background drawing from his studies in music, visual art, and psychology. He was trained as a conservatory French Horn player, and later developed his own compositional style using ethnic, experimental and pop music forms. He performed in many of New York City’s most respected centers for creative art, including “‘The Kitchen”, and “The Knitting Factory” and his music has been featured in theatrical productions in the United States and Taiwan. He has exhibited his visual arts, paintings, and drawings in galleries in the eastern United States and Taiwan.

A Moving Sound has been featured on BBC Radio 3, National Public Radio in the U.S., and on The Discovery Channel. They have performed in twenty countries including The Kennedy Center, W.O.M.A.D. (picked as a festival highlight by London Financial Times) and theMelbourne International Arts Festival. They have also performed and taught at Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, University of Massachusetts and many other respected universities.

Selected Reviews:
“A Moving Sound is one of the most original outfits working in the world music arena today” – Tom Pryor, music supervisor for National Geographic online music

“One of the few groups offering truly creative music from Asia.” – Marco Werman, BBC Public Radio International
“They draw on ancient culture not to recreate a copy of history but to rediscover the timeless, universal expression of life” – Songlines Magazine CD Review (3 out of 4 stars) Alexandra Petropoulos

Theodore Levin, noted ethnomusicologist and Professor of Music, Dartmouth College, U.S.:  “A Moving Sound courageously weaves together the multiple and disparate cultural strands that make Taiwan a unique source of contemporary world music. Virtuosic performances on plucked and bowed instruments, Chinese percussion, Tibetan singing bowls, and the evocative vocal sounds and movement of Mia Hsieh come together in a performance that is at once joyous and contemplative.”
Lucy Duran on BBC Radio 3’s “World Routes”: “Mia Hsieh is a great young woman singer putting a new spin on old traditions with her group A Moving Sound. She projects her own experience of the mix of eastern and western influences in Taipei…. Not often do we get to hear music from Taiwan. AMS has a fine and unusual album”

The New York Public Theater:
“an exciting development in the progression of both traditional and contemporary Chinese music…..joyous, evocative and enchanting”

Department of Cultural Affairs, Chicago World Music Festival:
“Chicago’s reaction to A Moving Sound was a joy to see”

Program organized by the Taiwanese American Arts Council.
Special Thanks: Dr. Lung Fong Chen, Thomas Chen and Patrick Huang