Jeremy Moyer: Two Strings Dancing Ch'i

Canadian-born musician and composer Jeremy Moyer is in a unique position being able to cross the boundaries of two very different musical cultures, that of East and West. Moyer has lived for several years in Taiwan and Mainland China and studied Chinese folk music from the Cantonese and Taiwanese traditions with teachers such as Shi-Dong Zhang, a folk musician in Taichung, Taiwan, and Yeung-Yee Lee in New York City. Moyer 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, Spirit Wind for one, is at once spiritual yet of the earth. Another, Journey, was a fascinating piece built on a bass pedal..." Harry Currie, The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario) August 23, 2003 - Concert review: Midsummer Night’s Dream, Journey to Freedom.

From 1998–2000, Jeremy Moyer was a member of the Chinese Music Ensemble of New York. Since returning to Canada and settling in Montreal in early 2001, Moyer has been performing regularly on the Chinese two-stringed fiddles: the Erhu (standard Chinese two-stringed fiddle), the Gaohu (Cantonese high pitched fiddle), and the Taiwanese Coconut Shell Fiddle. In addition to giving concerts of contemporary world music and Chinese repertoire, Moyer gives interactive musical children's presentations, he gives lecture-presentations and workshops and he has performed at folk festivals and appeared at numerous Chinese-Canadian community events. Moyer also performs regularly as a member of the group GALITCHA (Punjabi folk and world music) and with GEORGE SAPOUNIDIS (Greek music and Chinese folk songs).

Currently Moyer is producing a new CD to be released in spring 2004. The new CD - featuring all original compostions - will include performances by classical guitarist Kevin Ramessar and percussionist Shawn Mativetsky. Moyer’s previous CD, A DISCOVERY OF CHINESE FOLK TUNES, was released in 1997 and features authentic folkloric renditions of traditional songs from the south of China performed on the Taiwanese Coconut Shell Fiddle, the Pipa Lute and various Chinese percussion instruments.

"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 (Montréal), March 22, 2002 (translated from Chinese).