Derek Tsung-yu Wu (吳宗祐) stumbled upon a cozy little bookstore in Reykjavik while attending a literature festival there three years ago. On the ground floor he found a tiny studio crammed with mixers, old record players and musical instruments of different vintages. He later heard that Sigur Ros had practiced there.
The studio in Iceland inspired Wu, now general manager of the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra (台北愛樂管弦樂團), to open Reykjavik Lab, a basement practice and performance space that welcomes musicians playing all sorts of music.
Tomorrow and on Sunday, the lab will host the first edition of the Reykjavik Music Fest (雷克雅維克音樂節), a crossover festival with rock and classical performances.
Four ensembles including Verve Quartet (Verve弦樂四重奏) and String and Art Chamber Orchestra (絃琴藝緻室內樂團) will present classical music in chronological order from baroque to romantic to contemporary.
On the other end of the spectrum, Oli and her band will play folksy tunes including a rendition of Alanis Morissette’s Ironic, NyLas will present electro-rock sounds, and 88 Balaz (八十八顆芭樂籽) has been recruited for its high-energy punk rock.
“This is a space where the boundaries between musical communities get loosened up a bit. People with a classical background will get a chance to learn more about the rock kids, and rock bands can be inspired by, say, the music of Mozart,” Wu said. “We hope that maybe someday Taiwan’s musicians will describe their music not as Brit-pop or European electronica, but as our own music.”
The studio, which is owned by Taipei Philharmonic, has been presenting live Sunday chamber music concerts for the last couple of years before its reincarnation as Reykjavik Lab this past January. In celebration of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami’s 30th year as an author, a series of matinee concerts is planned for this month and next and will feature the classical music in Murakami’s novels, with artists playing works by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart and Chopin.
A small cafe next to the studio serves snacks, coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages. Visitors are welcome to hang out and spend a weekend afternoon listening to music.
For aspiring musicians and rockers who are not quite ready to play at a club like The Wall (這牆), Wu and his staff are planning to hold concerts every Friday or Saturday with bands who practice at the studio at least 10 times within a period of two months. For more information, go to tspo.pixnet.net/blog.
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