While many simply call it gypsy music, violinist, Kim Angelis, prefers to refer to her energetic brand of violin activity as "world chamber music."
And she could be right. Much of Angelis's music sees the San Francisco born violinist contorting and blending many differing styles of music. Genres ranging from Gypsy, classical, bluegrass, swing and even rock'n'roll are all part of her musicology.
"I remember being in high school and listening to rock'n'roll at a time when my studies meant that I was immersed in classical music," recalls Angelis. "The contrasting musical styles somehow inspired me to write my own music, which came out as this kind of strange hybrid."
Angelis first began toying with the idea of using the violin to create her own unique crossbred cross-cultural sound in the early 1980s.
Four years after releasing her debut album Consider This on the relatively small Eagle label in 1985, Angelis moved to ROM Records. Whilst signed to ROM she released a couple of albums in 1992. While Violin Voyager and The Messenger never saw chart entry they did secure the violist a fan base in the US. The later of the two ROM albums was only released locally in 1999 to coincide with the artists' first tour of Taiwan the same year.
While Angelis's early releases secured her a loyal following, it wasn't until 1996 that the violinist with a difference received credit from the conservative music world. Her 1996 release Esperanza was selected by the popular music magazine Strings as one of that year's "choice recording."
Shortly after this success, however, Angelis parted company with the record label. According to the violinist the label squeezed her music into a box and gave her no room to create the sound she was looking for.
"Signing with a label is always problematic. The labels we dealt with both wanted to control the shape of our music and market it how they saw fit," states Joseph Gault, Angelis's husband and accompanying guitarist. "They weren't interested in listening to us. And I hate to say this, but they treated us very unfairly."
Breaking out on their own, the pair founded Skysong Records. Angelis released her first independently produced album, Spirit of Adventure, on the label last year.
While chart success has eluded Angelis, her stylish and engaging brand of violin driven "world chamber music" hasn't gone unnoticed. In 1993, award winning documentary filmmaker, Bill Day incorporated several of Angelis's numbers into the soundtrack of his documentary, Saviors of the Forest. The film went on to win a cluster of awards at film festivals in Europe and the US.
Last year, Angelis's music found itself beamed into homes across the globe when Chinese gymnast, Kui Yuanyuan, performed her floor exercise routine to one of Angelis's tunes during the 2000 Sydney Olympics. Taken from the album, The Messenger, the Romany soaked "Black Bart Rides Again," a tune written 11 years before suddenly became one of her most talked about numbers.
"It came as a complete surprise," explains Angelis. "We got a call from friends in Chile who had seen it on TV there telling us hours before it was broadcast in the US. It was a great feeling hearing my song being played and knowing how many people around the world were listening to it."
Appearing with Angelis on her 2001 concert tour of Taiwan are pianist Bruce Malament, percussionist Mark Dyken and Joseph Gault on guitar.
What: Kim Angelis in Concert
When & Where:
Tonight 7:30pm, Aug. 17, The National Concert Hall (台北國家音樂廳).
Tomorrow, Aug. 18, Kaohsiung's Chihteh Hall (高雄市文化中心至德堂).
Sunday, Aug. 19, Taichung's Chungshan Hall (台中市中山堂)
Tickets: NT$300 - NT$2,000 for all performances and available direct from performance venues
In late October of 1873 the government of Japan decided against sending a military expedition to Korea to force that nation to open trade relations. Across the government supporters of the expedition resigned immediately. The spectacle of revolt by disaffected samurai began to loom over Japanese politics. In January of 1874 disaffected samurai attacked a senior minister in Tokyo. A month later, a group of pro-Korea expedition and anti-foreign elements from Saga prefecture in Kyushu revolted, driven in part by high food prices stemming from poor harvests. Their leader, according to Edward Drea’s classic Japan’s Imperial Army, was a samurai
The following three paragraphs are just some of what the local Chinese-language press is reporting on breathlessly and following every twist and turn with the eagerness of a soap opera fan. For many English-language readers, it probably comes across as incomprehensibly opaque, so bear with me briefly dear reader: To the surprise of many, former pop singer and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) ex-lawmaker Yu Tien (余天) of the Taiwan Normal Country Promotion Association (TNCPA) at the last minute dropped out of the running for committee chair of the DPP’s New Taipei City chapter, paving the way for DPP legislator Su
Located down a sideroad in old Wanhua District (萬華區), Waley Art (水谷藝術) has an established reputation for curating some of the more provocative indie art exhibitions in Taipei. And this month is no exception. Beyond the innocuous facade of a shophouse, the full three stories of the gallery space (including the basement) have been taken over by photographs, installation videos and abstract images courtesy of two creatives who hail from the opposite ends of the earth, Taiwan’s Hsu Yi-ting (許懿婷) and Germany’s Benjamin Janzen. “In 2019, I had an art residency in Europe,” Hsu says. “I met Benjamin in the lobby
April 22 to April 28 The true identity of the mastermind behind the Demon Gang (魔鬼黨) was undoubtedly on the minds of countless schoolchildren in late 1958. In the days leading up to the big reveal, more than 10,000 guesses were sent to Ta Hwa Publishing Co (大華文化社) for a chance to win prizes. The smash success of the comic series Great Battle Against the Demon Gang (大戰魔鬼黨) came as a surprise to author Yeh Hung-chia (葉宏甲), who had long given up on his dream after being jailed for 10 months in 1947 over political cartoons. Protagonist