The Silk Roads in Sound (2) Contributors - International Dunhuang Programme (original) (raw)

The soundscape for the 2024 exhibition “A Silk Road Oasis – Life in Ancient Dunhuang” at the British Library brought together many contributors. Here you can learn more about them and their relationship to the music of the Silk Roads.

Dr Xiaoshi Wei is the lead producer of the soundscape. He developed the soundscape through workshops and recording sessions with musicians from a diverse cultural background. With the support of SOAS, Xiaoshi made new recordings of Tibetan musician Ngawang Lodup and Uyghur musician Shohret Nur in London. He produced new recordings with a working group in Ürümchi, Xinjiang, involving Wu Lele, Alimjan Abléz, Elqem Ekber, and Zhang Yun. He also worked together with Sonia Gorji, Wu Fei, Yasin Muxpul, and Anuar Qaldıqan, who all contributed pre-recordings to the soundscape.

We are very grateful for the generous support from China Database for Traditional Music (CDTM) in sourcing the archival sounds, organising new recordings sessions with musicians in Xinjiang and Beijing and providing technical support to the production and mastering of the soundscape. In addition, to sponsoring an upcoming concert of performances by Wu Fei, Ngawang Lodup, and Shoret Nur which will take place at the British Library on October 28th 2024.

China Database for Traditional Music (CDTM)

Beijing

The China Database for Traditional Music (CDTM; 中国音网; cdtmusic.com) is a world leading organisation for the preservation, restoration, and promotion of traditional music from China and the wider Sinophone region. The CDTM archives span over a century of recorded music digitised from a wide variety of media; from wax cylinders and open-reel tapes, right up to contemporary albums and field recordings, allowing researchers unprecedented access to the breadth of China’s audible history.

Xiaoshi Wei

Beijing

Xiaoshi Wei holds a PhD degree in ethnomusicology from Indiana University, and is currently a research associate at SOAS, University of London. His research focuses on historical recordings, sound archives, and legacy collections in China and the Turkic-speaking world. He also directs the China Database for Traditional Music in Beijing, and conducts various archival projects with sound archives in Türkiye and the US. In 2024, as lead producer, Xiaoshi Wei conducted work on the soundscape for the exhibition “A Silk Road Oasis – Life in Ancient Dunhuang” at the British Library.

Ngawang Lodup

Tibet / UK

Ngawang Lodup is a renowned Tibetan mountain and folk singer based in the UK, and is famous for performing Traditional Tibetan nomadic ballads and contemporary folk songs on electric Mandolin and dramyan lute. He grew up in the Amdo region of Tibet – a harsh but magical environment on the north-eastern corner of the Tibetan Plateau, known for its wind-swept grasslands, fine horses and nomadic culture. Since settling in the UK in 2004, Ngawang has garnered great acclaim for his renditions of Tibetan folk songs and has been performing across the UK and in Europe over the last decade, including in Norway, Poland, Estonia, Ireland, Netherlands, Belgium, and Switzerland. In April 2015, he became the first World Music artist to join the “BBC Introducing” initiative, and in September that year, he performed at the O2 Arena in London for the Dalai Lama amidst a packed crowd of international audiences. He was subsequently invited to appear at the WOMAD music festival, Shambhala festival and Greenbelt, and has since been extensively featured in various newspapers.

Ngawang Lodup, “Holy Mountain” (43 seconds)

Shohret Nur

Xinjiang / UK

A Uyghur native from Kashgar, Shohret Nur (شوھرەت نۇر) is a music virtuoso on dutar and rawap. He studied these two Uyghur signature instruments at Xinjiang Arts Institute (新疆艺术学院) and was trained as a professional artist at the Institute’s acclaimed nationwide orchestra. Shohret earned a bachelor’s in Ethnomusicology at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University in 2019. He then won a number of awards from the artistic authorities in both Xinjiang and Türkiye, notably in music competitions showcased at Istanbul’s Sultan Ahmet Square and in a meritorious demonstration to the Turkish leadership. Shohret is now a leading artist at various ensembles across Türkiye and the U.K., including the Istanbul Uyghur Sanat Ensemble and the Miras Silk.

Shohret Nur, “Eighth Century” (34 seconds)

Sonia Gorji

Iran / UK

Sonia Gorji began her musical journey on the santur at the age of nine, inspired by her grandfather’s passion for the instrument. His love of traditional Iranian music ignited her interest, leading her to pursue formal training. After completing her secondary education at a music conservatory in Tehran, she moved to the UK at the age of seventeen to study Music Composition.

The transition to a new culture provided a unique opportunity to explore the intersection of Iranian culture and Western musical influences. Her compositions and improvisations seek to bridge these two worlds, drawing inspiration from the traditional melodies she grew up with. Improvising has become her favourite way to express herself and connect with the melodies of her home and childhood. ‘It’s like rediscovering the music my mom used to play around the house, but with a fresh twist’, she says. ‘Now I’m blending all those influences together to share the beauty and richness of Iranian culture with my audience.

Sonia Gorji, “Fairy Tales” (30 seconds)

Wu Fei

China / USA

Wu Fei is a classically trained composer, vocalist, and master of the guzheng – the 21-string Chinese zither. Her compositions combine influences from both Western classical and Chinese musical traditions. Wu has also collaborated with artists from different genres, including the Philadelphia Orchestra; Grammy-winning musicians Béla Fleck, Abigail Washburn, and Jeff Coffin; oud master Shanir Blumenkranz; composers John Zorn and Fred Frith; and Emmy-winning director Pierce Freelon.

Wu Fei, Wang Hong, Zhao Yangqin, Wang Wei , and Chen Tao, “Loulan” (34 seconds)

Wu Lele

Working group in Ürümchi, Xinjiang – Wu Lele, Alimjan Abléz, Elqem Ekber, and Zhang Yun

Xinjiang

This working group of artists and scholars aims to restore the sounds of ancient music in the Qumul (Yizhou) region, out of scores adopted by Prof. Chen Yingshi and Prof. Duan Qiang. Wu Lele is China’s nationally recognised “first tier” player on pipa and an adjunct professor at the Xinjiang Arts Institute. Alimjan Abléz and Elqem Ekber are associated performers at the Xinjiang Muqam Theater, and Zhang Yun is a faculty member at the Xinjiang Research Institute for Arts.

Wu Lele, Alimjan Abléz, and Elqem Ekber, “Excerpts from the Yizhou-Qumul Suites” (33 seconds)

Yasin Muxpul

Xinjiang

Yasin Muxpul is a prominent instrumentalist, songwriter, and scholar in Ürümchi, Xinjiang. He composed well-known popular songs and instrumentals on satar, dutar and bağlama saz. He has held multiple life-retrospective concerts that feature renowned musicians in Uyghur culture, representing the “golden time” of urban Uyghur culture in the nation’s contemporary history. His works are inscribed with the most memorable Uyghur characters from the 1980s through the 2000s.

Yasin Muxpul, “Ewrishim” (26 seconds)

Anuar Qaldıqan

Kazakhstan

Anuar Qaldıqan (انۋار قالدىقان), a descendant of the Iyteli clan of the steppe nations, is an independent musician performing the Kazakh tradition, küy (كۈي). Using sounds to achieve powerful sensory effects, Anuar experiments with guitar and a variety of Kazakh musical instruments (domibra, qobyz, sybyzghy, and etc.) to create sonic imaginaries that lie in the essence of küy. He fuses Kazakh folk music with contemporary experimental musical forms, exploring multiple atmospheric, ecological, and sonic connections between tradition and the modern world.

Anuar Qaldıqan, “Excerpts from the ‘Waves Concert'” (34 seconds)