5 Questions with Mindy Meng Wang
Mindy Meng Wang is a versatile Chinese/Australian composer and world-class modern guzheng player. She was born and trained in China, and studied western musicology in the UK before emigrating to Australia.
A contemporary pioneer of the guzheng, she introduces the ancient Chinese horizontal harp into many western genres including experimental, jazz, western classical, electronic and improvisation.
NO.1
Can you begin by telling us a little about your new album Phoenix Rising? How was it conceptualised?
When I got the exciting offer from Flash Forward, I immediately thought that this was a perfect opportunity to make an album to create and record some new collaborative pieces with some musicians I’d loved working with over the last few years. Maybe we only had a one-off performance without an ongoing project, but I wanted to document those beautiful moments of how I played music with them; the sparks, the pleasure and the moment we communicated deeply in our hearts. The music in Phoenix Rising contains so many profound emotions—it provides a gentle but somehow also very intense sonic world and allows the listener to get lost in their thoughts and feelings. All the music pieces are also very visual; I see a picture in every part of this album.
The guzheng is a Chinese traditional stringed instrument that has 2500 years of written history. It has 21 strings, and many say it looks like a horizontal harp, but it sounds unique and oriental, especially with its signature pitch-bending sound. The guzheng has only ever been played traditionally in China. In the last decade, my artistic practice has been about finding new techniques, tuning systems, and musical potentials. The artists on this album are from very different genres and represent some styles I have been exploring.
Phoenix Rising is a vital record for me, and I think it sets a milestone for modern guzheng music. I have used many innovative ‘first-ever’ techniques and explored various Western styles that the guzheng has never come into contact with before. I feel that in the future, when people look back, they will say that Phoenix Rising is a ‘quantum leap’ for the guzheng—it starts a new chapter in the instrument’s history. Just like the phoenix, it rises!
NO.2
What were some of your earliest musical memories? How did you come to pick up the guzheng?
Wow, I love this question! When I think back to my earliest musical memories, many moments become vivid again in my head.
I grew up in a big industrial city called Lanzhou in northwestern China. My parents are both academics working in the university, where we also lived. One of my first music memories would be the university public station broadcasting on the outdoor loudspeakers three times a day. You could hear it from any corner of the university. The early morning started with soft music to wake students and teachers up, gradually moving into a soundtrack for morning exercises. At lunch and dinner times, there would be a lot of popular music with some university news. This broadcast has been there since I was born, and now I still hear it when I go back to visit. It is the earliest sound/music memory and the soundtrack of my youth.
I also remember the sound of whistles and bells as a vivid memory, from when I was three or four. It was summer, and my parents had sent me to stay with some relatives who lived in the countryside. They would take the farm cattle to work in the wheat field, and sometimes, they would take me with them. Whenever I think about that summer, I can hear the sound of whistles from the farm and bells from the cattle. I can feel the heatwave and see the large scale of the wheatlands. Everything was just perfect in that hot, fun and different summer.
I think I picked up the guzheng because the natural sound of the instrument is just so beautiful. When I was six, we got a new neighbour. She was the most famous guzheng teacher in my city. I could hear her play and teach students from next door, and I fell in love with the sound of the guzheng immediately. I then told my mum that I wanted to learn and asked her to take me to my teacher.
NO.3
You are a world-class modern guzheng player, as well as having studied western musicology in the UK. As a result, your compositions are experimental and genre-bending. Do you think combining musical styles from your cultural roots makes for a different sense of your practice? How do they influence one another for you?
My music style strongly reflects my upbringing and life experiences. There are traces of that and every bit of my personality in my work. My hometown, for example, was a vital trading spot on the ancient Silk Road for thousands of years. With more than 40 ethnic groups and a diversity of religions and cultures, the residents have, over a long time, developed a genuinely multicultural land. Local music, especially folk music from different ethnic groups, has many different styles and contains a richness of elements. Although the guzheng was only played in a traditional Chinese classic style in my region, I always have the diverse and rich ethnic music elements in my head. And it sometimes comes out in my composition.
You can also find many ancient Chinese elements in my composition, inspired by historical stories, paintings, poems, and literature—all from my upbringing. My parents are historians, and they inadvertently influenced me as I was growing up. My childhood experiences also made me a curious and adventurous person, and you can hear that in my music. I always want to try new things, to liberate the expression of the instrument through the music.
My Western musical studies have equipped me with the essentials for my practice, to modernise the guzheng to further its unlimited possibilities. Studying and working in the UK and Australia also has broadened my musical concepts. It informs me that everything is possible and that there’s nothing ‘wrong’ with creating new techniques and styles on an ancient, traditional instrument. It has also made me understand the deep connection between Western and Eastern music. There is no difference between how we use sound to express ourselves, whether the basis is on [the] 12-tone or pentatonic [scale]. As people from different races and backgrounds, we are all human regardless of whether we look different.
NO.4
The press release for Phoenix Rising states that you hope for a ‘deeper and reciprocal musical connection between Australia and China’. How do you think you have gone about doing that, and what are other ways forward?
I think there are many levels of answers to this question.
Five of the seven tracks are collaborative works between me and some Melbourne, Hobart and Sydney musicians. We will bring this album to China too. It will be a unique experience for Chinese audiences to get to know these Western artists via a familiar and culturally rich Chinese instrument. It is like talking to them directly in Chinese, but not English.
For non-Chinese audiences, I hope this album can break the stereotypical image of the guzheng or traditional Chinese instrument. It is not something that only appears in a Chinese restaurant or movie. It can speak your language and deeply touch your heart too. Although my music and practices are modern, they still and always will contain a significant cultural identity. By introducing my music to new audiences, I am also presenting my culture and myself. I tell stories through my music that connects us emotionally and holds us at a deeper level. I hope more and more people find common ground and similarities through my music, regardless of cultural origins.
NO.5
What does it mean for you to be making and producing music in these times? What keeps you going?
Music keeps me happy. We are all experiencing so many complex emotions through this crazy time: love, fear, loneliness, sorrow, frustration and even anger. I would be at a loss without my musical practice in this challenging time. When I play music and create new work, it takes me out of the mud we are walking in for a moment; it nurtures my spirit and gives me courage. It calms me down and brings me to a safe place.
Knowing my music can bring some shelter and happiness to others means so much to me. It makes everything meaningful. It makes lockdown life less painful and tedious. It is like a friend, and it is the light in the dark night. I am very grateful for everything music brings to my life and heart.
Phoenix Rising is Mindy Meng Wang’s breathtaking new album which features a range of collaborative pieces with artists from across the musical spectrum.
Her work is an important part of a significant movement of Chinese musicians redefining and reinvigorating their musical tradition on the global stage. Her long-term vision is to create a strong voice for young female composers and artists of Chinese heritage, and to create a deeper and reciprocal musical connection between Australia and China.
Listen to the premiere of ‘Night Storm’ below: