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Nelson Hiu |
Nelson, born and raised in Honolulu Hawaii,
is a fourth generation descendant of Chinese and Japanese immigrants.
His interest in music, improvisation and self-discovery began while
a secondary school student during the tumultuous late 60's and early
70's. He studied ethno-musicology at the University of Hawaii and
dropped-out of the post-graduate program to begin a career of dance
class accompaniment as well as the occasional side job, paid gig
and commissioned composition. He has been living in Hong Kong since
1985.
Nelson has also been a founding member of many new music ensembles
in Hawaii and Hong Kong including Nuclear Tan, the Pagan Babies,
Gain Dangerous Visions, the Pet Project Hawaii, Uncarved Block,
CIMG (Collective Improvisational Music Group), Little Red Truck,
Dancing Stone and Yihk, and has collaborated extensively with dance
and theatre. His music for dance has been performed in Hawaii, Arizona,
San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Utah, New York City, Japan,
Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.
His performances outside Hong Kong include the New Music Across
America Festival at the Honolulu Academy of Arts Theater in Hawaii;
a tour of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka with Otomo Yoshihide and Jon Rose;
¡§Revolution is in the March¡¨ (an experimental play) at the Kampo
Cultural Center with Dancing Stone, ¡§Five Broken Stars on a Field
of Red¡¨ (dance performance) at NADA, a music and poetry improvisation
at the Mercury Lounge with the Pet Project in New York City; the
Big Island Slack Key Guitar Festival in Hawaii; the Artcamp Hakushu
Festival in Japan with the Voice Circus; the 1st and 2nd New Masses
Music Movement in Shenzhen (China) with CIMG and Dancing Stone;
the John Zorn: tour of Asia in Shenzhen and Guangzhou (China) with
Little Red Truck; joint performances at the EZ-9 in Taipei with
Otomo Yoshihide, Uchihashi Kazuhisa, Matsubara Sachiko & Samm
Bennett and Dancing Stone; the Hong Kong Festival in Berlin (Germany)
at the Kunsthaus Tacheles with Dancing Stone and Yihk; the Festival
of Cultures ¡¦97 - Hong Kong in Munich (Germany) with Dancing Stone;
¡§Ensemble and Solos: sound¡¨ at Plan B in Tokyo with Yihk and ¡§Ensemble
and Solos: dance¡¨ at the Proto Theatre in Tokyo with Ling Lee and
Kenichi Takeda; ¡§Tribal Xiang Gang Concert in Taiwan¡¨ at the Assignment
A.C. Theatre Chung Chia, Roxy Vibe and the Underground Society in
Taipei; and most recently the Ghost Festival in Berlin (Germany)
at the Kunsthaus Tacheles with Ling Lee, John Lee and Lee Man-sang.
In Hong Kong, his performances include ¡§Dark Entry 9¡¨ with Little
Red Truck; the Hong Kong Arts Festival '95 with Dancing Stone and
CIMG; the Commercial Radio II live radio performance at the Music
Union with Dancing Stone; the Power Generation Concert with Little
Red Truck; the Festival Now Music Lab. with Dancing Stone, ¡§Raw
Earth¡¨ (a collaboration with ceramic artists, Lee Man-yip and Jacqueline
Li, installation artist/instruments builder/musician, Lee Man-sang,
voicalist/dancer, Ling Lee) performed at the Hong Kong Arts Centre
and the Kang Yung Study Hall (an old village school now a preserved
historic site museum) in Sheung Wo Hang Hakka Village in the New
Territories, ¡§Still Here¡¨ (a combination of found video projected
onto large floating white sheet, photographs, er-hu, voice, live
electronics and movement) with Dancing Stone; ¡§October ¡¦96: a new
music festival¡¨ with Dancing Stone; ¡§Tribal Xiang Gang in Concert
I & II¡¨ with Dancing Stone, ¡§Laughing Funeral Worry Birth! white
clouds blue sky¡¨ (a collaboration of installation, movement and
music) with Ling Lee, Lee Man-sang and Chan Wai-fat; DanceArt¡¦s
¡§Present Continuous¡¨ (a collaboration with contact improvisation
dancers) with Dancing Stone; ¡§Dancing in the Street¡¨ with Uncarved
Block; the improvisational music series at Club 64 with Ling Lee,
Lee Man-sang, Chan Wai-fat, Joe Rosenberg, Simon Hui and Peter Suart;
¡§City Rites¡¨ at the Zuni Icosahedron studio with Ling Lee, Lee Man-sang
and Pun Tak-shu; ¡§4 Soloists¡¨ with Ling Lee, Lee Man-sang and Chan
Wai-fat, and ¡§Serial 1: solo & duo¡¨ with Uncarved Block at the
Para/Site Artspace; ¡§dRumS(erHu/fLutes) +dAncE¡¨ with John Lee and
Ling Lee, ¡§village parlour music¡¨ with Lee Man-sang and ¡§FUBAr premiere
concert¡¨ with FUBAr (Nelson Hiu/John Lee/Lee Man-sang) at Club 64;
¡§Nine Years!¡¨ June 4th Memorial Free Concert with FUBAr at theCultural
Centre Plaza; ¡§scattered pebbles¡¨ with Ling Lee at the Cultural
Centre Studio Theatre; and ¡§november, december 1998¡¨ with Dancing
Stone and Uncarved block at various public environments and Fringe
Club theatre.
His recorded releases include
n ¡§Cracked Prism¡¨ 85
n ¡§Music for Roaches, Birds & Other creatures¡¨ 95
n ¡§16:50 1997/11/2: nelson hiu er-hu solo¡¨ 97
n ¡§Nelson Hiu Solo: gu-qin and er-hu improvisations¡¨ 99
n ¡§Normal Free¡¨ 93 with Dancing Stone
n ¡§POK¡¨ 96 with Dancing Stone
n ¡§Still Here¡¨ 96 with Dancing Stone
n ¡§From inside the bubble looking out¡¨ 96 with Yihk
He can also be heard on
¡§Om: what is sound¡¨
¡§Tatakiuri¡¨
His music has been described as:
"...oddly compelling, eerie ..." - the Hong
Kong Standards, 1987
"The sounds were raw, spontaneous and reminiscent
of the elements of nature - gusts, breezes, streams, rain, waves,
cave echoes and occasionally chants of priests in temples ..."
- South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), 1988
"... whose haunting flute moves from trembling
rhythms and abrasive aspiration to melodious lyricism and stark
silence throughout ..." - Attitude Magazine (New York), 1992
"He played with an inner awareness, and control
that produced riffs flying across a landscape of sensations that
concocted a contemporised past.¡¨ - South China Morning Post (Hong
Kong), 1996
¡§¡Kproduced hectic puzzle-noise reminiscent of all
the noises of civilization packed together and speeded up.¡¨ - Allgemeine
Zeitung (Munich, Germany) 1997
¡§In Nelson Hiu¡¦s admirably virtuoso playing, the Chinese
tonal system corresponds naturally with the gestures of free jazz
of Ornette Coleman and the dark rawness of early Velvet Underground.¡¨
- Suedeutsche Zeitung (Munich, Germany) 1997
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