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Jeremy Moyer
Two Strings Dancing Ch'i, A Discovery of Chinese Folk Tunes and other notes...
Canadian-born musician and composer Jeremy Moyer is in a unique position
being able to cross the thresholds of two very different musical cultures,
that of East and West. He plays and composes for the Erhu (standard Chinese
two-stringed fiddle), the Gaohu (high-pitched Cantonese fiddle), and the
Taiwanese Coconut Shell Fiddle.
Moyer has lived for several years in Taiwan and Mainland China and studied
music from the Cantonese and Taiwanese traditions with teachers such as
Zhang Shi-Dong, a folk musician in Taichung, Taiwan, and Lee Yeung-Yee
in New York City. He also has a diverse background in western music and has
performed as a bass player and guitar player with groups performing
South American Folk Music, R&B and Funk. His emotionally expressive original compositions showcase this rich cultural diversity and musical latitude.
"Jeremy Moyer's presence was exhilerating... Moyer imparts an exotic flavour of another cultural dimension. His music... is at once spiritual yet of the earth." Harry Currie, The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario) August 23, 2003 - Concert review: Midsummer Night's Dream, Journey to Freedom.
Returning from a musically inspiring stay in Taiwan in 1997, Moyer
recorded and released his first solo CD entitled A Discovery of Chinese Folk Tunes. This CD features melodies which Moyer learned by rote in
Taiwan performed in a rustic traditional manner on the Coconut Shell Fiddle,
Pipa lute and various Chinese percussion instruments.
Moyer currently lives in Montreal Canada. He has recently toured across Canada and the Eastern United States performing at folk festivals as a member of the group Galitcha. He also works regularly with Greek-Canadian musician George Sapounidis. Moyer frequently appears at Canadian-Chinese community and corporate events in Montreal, Toronto and Ottawa where he gives instrumental performances of Erhu and Gaohu traditional repertoire as well as vocal performances of Taiwanese folk songs and Mandarin Chinese pop songs.
Moyer's work as a composer, arranger and performer is best showcased by his group, the JEREMY MOYER ENSEMBLE. In 2003 and 2004, the group has given several concerts in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa and Kitchener-Waterloo Canada performing contemporary world music compositions, arrangements of Chinese folk tunes and an occasional jazz standard. Please join the email list to receive information on upcoming concerts and an eventual CD release.
"Your group�s performance captured the imagination" Doris Jakobsh, Chairperson, A Concert of Sacred World Music (Waterloo, Ontario) regarding Jeremy Moyer's performance on May 31, 2003.
"Over ten years ago, his beloved guitar in hand, a young westerner travelled to the faraway,
mysterious east where he worked as an teacher's assistant in a school for blind children in Taiwan. He used his natural talent for languages, his music and his kind personality to reach out and communicate with these young children with special needs. It was in this environment that this idealistic 19 year old Canadian began his exploration of Asian culture and music. 10 years later, in 2002, at the Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto's lavish Chinese New Year Banquet, he is performing a classical Chinese piece, "Zhuang Tai Qiu Si" on the Gaohu (high pitched Cantonese fiddle). His skill and fluency with the instrument is obvious and his mature musical expression and interpretation elicit an enthusiastic applause from the eclectic audience..." Haiying Song, Sinoquebec Chinese Newspaper (Montr�al), March 22, 2002 (translated from Chinese).
Moyer speaks fluent English, French and Mandarin Chinese
Jeremy Moyer acknowledges the financial support of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Qu�bec.
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"The subtlety of the music and the playing requires several listenings before one can adjust to the gentle nature of the sounds, indeed, to the philosophy which breathes life into those sounds. There is a delicacy here which makes our frenetic lifestyles seem almost frivolous..." Harry Currie The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario) regarding Moyer's 1997 CD A Discovery of Chinese Folk Tunes. |
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"We have received many compliments about your performance and about your obvious enjoyment in sharing your knowledge and skill with others." "I heard from our attendees that the Chinese-Canadian members of the audience were toe-tapping and singing along with you!" Gail Cuthbert Brandt Ph.D, Principal & Vice-Chancellor, Kathryn McKie, Director of Development and Alumini Affairs, Renison College East Asian Autumn Festival 2001 (Waterloo, Ontario Canada). |
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"My time working with Jeremy has been an honor as well as a learning experience. Jeremy has fresh ideas that come from his living them, and they come out in his music." Charles Cedell Carter Sr., platinum selling songwriter, Queens, NY |
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