HELLO GOLD MOUNTAIN
composed by Wu Fei
Shots from the Jewish ghetto around World War II era Shanghai.
Hello Gold Mountain is a requiem for lost possibilities of the Jewish community of Shanghai.
The work, an original composition by Wu Fei, features chatterbird along with Wu Fei (guzheng) and Silk Road Ensemble’s Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz (oud).
The piece is inspired by stories of Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai from Europe during World War II. From 1933 until the end of the war, Shanghai was often the only port at which Jewish refugees fleeing Europe could disembark without a visa. In the early 1940s, more than 20,000 Jews lived in Shanghai and contributed to its cultural and civic life.
But the Jews could not stay. As China’s bloody civil war came to a close in 1949, most fled. Many emigrated to the US, often arriving at the port of San Francisco, or Old Gold Mountain 旧金山.
What musical possibilities were lost because the times did not allow neighbors from these different cultures to grow old together, sharing songs and stories? Similarly, what artistic creations will be lost if Europe and the United States close the door to refugees and migrants from lands in chaos?
Chatterbird partnerws with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC), Gordon Jewish Community Center, the Chinese Arts Alliance of Nashville, and others to present a range of historical and educational workshops. Hello Gold Mountain premiered at Vanderbilt University’s Ingram Hall on Saturday, February 23, 2019.
GALLERY
Photographs by Melville Jacoby, courtesy Peggy Stern Cole via Bill Lascher. To learn more about Jacoby, see Eve of a Hundred Midnights, by Bill Lascher. More information at eveofahundredmidnights.com. These photos were taken in October or November of 1939.
FEATURED PRESS
ABOUT WU FEI
Born and raised in Beijing, Wu Fei is a composer, vocalist and performer of the guzheng (Chinese zither), as well as the piano. She began performing guzheng at the age of six, and spent her formative years studying composition at the China Conservatory of Music. She holds an M.A. in Composition from Mills College where she studied improvisation and composition.
Wu Fei has performed and recorded with musicians such as John Zorn, Fred Frith, Billy Martin (Medeski-Martin-Wood), Carla Kilhstedt (Tin Hat Trio), and Grammy winning musicians Abigail Washburn and Béla Fleck. Her commissions range from a composition for the Percussions Claviers de Lyon (France) that premiered in the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, to live performances in Paris and Tokyo for Hermès. She has composed for Balinese gamelan, symphony orchestra, choir, string quartet, chamber ensemble, film, and modern dance. Fei has performed at The Great Hall of The People in Beijing, EXPO 2010 in Shanghai, The Stone and MoMA in New York City, Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Vossa Jazz in Norway, Europalia in Belgium, and Madame Guitar Festival in Italy. Fei has also been a guest lecturer and performer at institutions including China Conservatory of Music, University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, and The Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.
