Chinese Pop Music School
East Meets West: The Musical Fusion of Diandian Wu
Born in 1986, DianDian Wu began learning piano when he was only 6 or 7, back in his native Beijing. Similar to American piano students, Wu was initially taught to play western classical music, such as Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, Mozart, and all the other usual suspects. He gave his first piano recital during his senior year of high school; upon graduating, he received first place in the Chinese National Piano Competition among 400 excellent pianists. With those momentous accomplishments behind him, he began to explore Chinese music and instruments.
“Most professional musicians only focus on one instrument,” Wu says. “I wanted to explore many different instruments and many different styles of music.”
In 2008, he released his first record, calling it “Dancing with Literature and Music: Diandian Wu’s Accomplishments Album of Chinese Literature and Music,” that displayed his mastery of Chinese literature, language, and music.
Eager to study abroad, Wu was accepted to Columbia University in the Fall of 2009, relocating to the United States and moving far from the life and family he’d always known. He now has a Master of Arts degree in East Asian Studies (Chinese Literature and Art), both of which, he attests, “share a close relationship with Chinese music and culture.”
It was Chinese literature, in fact, that gave Wu a better understanding of his culture’s traditional music.
“Chinese literature is a cultural bedrock and helps the music process,” he explains, “because behind every traditional Chinese song is a literary story.”
Word of Wu’s talents and ingenuity are beginning to spread. In addition to piano, he is now proficient at violin, as well as Chinese instruments such as the erhu, jinghu, banhu, guqin and bamboo flute, performing this year at esteemed venues such as Columbia University, Harvard University, and Carnegie Hall.
“I’d like to popularize traditional Chinese music so that more people can enjoy its beauty,” he explains. “Currently, public knowledge of Chinese music and instruments is limited to a specific group of people. I’d like to break the barrier between pop, classical, and traditional music while opening people’s minds and making it fun for the audience.”
By combining western classical music with traditional Chinese music and then throwing in his favorite modern songs from famous films and playing all of the above on largely obscure instruments, it is safe to say that there is no one else approaching live performance quite like Wu, and that he’s definitely opening some minds!
Diandian Wu’s website is coming soon. In the meantime, videos of his live performances can be viewed on YouTube.
About the Author
B.L. Turek is a writer based in Los Angeles, CA.
High School musical- Breaking Free (Mandarin)
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