Exploring Ethnicity and Identity in Your Songs

What’s so Chinese about Chinese-language music? 

 

This workshop will explore how to identify ethnic features of music, if there is any, by looking into three levels of factors, from mediums that deliver music (ex. instruments and vocal styles), to musical materials (ex. melodies and lyrics), and finally, elements (ex. tuning and meter). The musical texture and the relationship between the melodic contour and lexical tones of lyrics will also be discussed to examine what Chinese features might be in Chinese-language music, or even the ethnicity in other Asian musical traditions, such as Vietnamese or Thai. Participants are then invited to share how they would use musical devices or languages and show their identity in music.

Let’s get technical and musical with Chinese-language music!

Moderated by Dr. Josephine Chiu-Duke - UBC Professor | Chinese Intellectual History

 

Szu-Wei Chen 陳峙維

 

Szu-Wei Chen graduated from the Department of Botany and the Institute of Accounting at National Taiwan University. In 2007, he obtained a Ph.D. in Film and Media from the University of Stirling in the UK, with academic expertise in modern music industry, pop music, and world music. He has served as an adjunct professor at the Graduate Institute of Musicology at National Taiwan University since 2008, assumed the position of Executive Director of the Arts Center in August 2019, and joined the Center for General Education in August 2021. Szu-Wei Chen teaches in Mandarin, Taiwanese, and English, covering topics such as world music, Taiwanese music, the music industry, and cultural and creative management. He has been selected as an outstanding teacher three times and has had courses recognized three times under the General Education Excellence Program. Currently, he works as an independent curator, freelance translator, columnist, and also creates short films and multimedia music compositions.

 

 

About Jade Music Fest