The Sages: new world music fusion with a focus on tradition.
The Sages is a new world music fusion band project based in London that draws inspiration from different music elements throughout time and history. Their main focus is on traditional East Asian music. The band mainly consists of young students currently studying at SOAS, University of London. They are joined by members of the SOAS Chinese Silk and Bamboo Ensemble.
As a diverse cosmopolitan generation growing up under an age of globalisation and other social changes, the band aims to explore the concepts between “East” and “West”, cultural identity and musical “genres” through both original composition and adaption of traditional folk music. “The Sages 竹林七贤” is a reference to a group of 7 literati. Artists and scholars in ancient China who chose to escape mundane and hypocritical secular life and status to live in the remote natural countryside with the companionship of music, poetry, art (and wine). They searched for a higher spiritual fulfilment.
Lead singer and guitarist Yijia Tu first appeared as a semi-finalist in the popular Chinese singer-songwriter talent show “Sing My Song” at the age of 16. She went on to perform across China. This included the Chongqing and Zhangbei Outdoor Music Festival, one of the largest festivals in China. In 2016, she made the move to the UK to study at SOAS.
She is joined by multi-instrumentalist Peadar Connolly Davey. Orignaly from Wicklow, Ireland he also came to SOAS to study ethnomusicology. Growing up in a musical family, Peadar discovered his passion for music at a very young age which led to him studying many different instruments. His reputure ranges from an ocarina to the Irish whistles.
Watch our video interview above to learn more about this fascinating group.
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