西岸 | BEST BUND

West Bund is known as home to the Shanghai-style culture, and AMRTA represents the genuine sound of nature. Probably it’s because of the same reflection on origin of culture and art, AMRTA chose West Bund to display its unique music culture. From June 8th through 10th, with distinctly original instrument “He Drum” put on the septangle stage over the Huangpu River, the instrument players sitting on the center of the stage while 49 meditators sitting along the seven sides of the stage, mysterious natural sound will be echoing around the Huangpu River. The three-day AMRTA on Water will arouse Shanghai’s music memories, adding brilliance to the West Bund rich of culture and providing opportunities for the music fans to learn more about AMRTA the oriental original band. 

“AMRTA on Water”, Customized Show for West Bund

The “AMRTA Times” series were well received and highly recognized by the artists, mass media and music fans home and abroad. “AMRTA on Water” is the fifth topic in “AMRTA Times”. In the evenings of June 8th, 9th and 10th, 2013, the AMRTA show was put on for three days over the West Bund water. This show has invited musician He Xuntian as its Art Director, composer Song Ge as Music Director, Zhao Jianping, who is in charge of Shanghai Yibo Gallery as Producer, and CEO of the 99 Art Website (www.99ys.com) Yang Kai as Media Director. 

This time, AMRTA made a strong cast, including Wu Qiang, the outstanding contemporary Liu-chin and Zhongruan player, conductor and professor of Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Huo Yonggang, string instrument player, drum player & singer and professor of Shanghai Conservatory of Music; Zhou Jing, accordion layer and winner of the world accordion competition for four times; Zhou Qing, flute player and singer; Shen Yixie, drum player & singer; as well as Chen Jianheng, famous Hong Kong sound engineer and many other on-site stage designers.

AMRTA on Water is performed on three-dimensional, transparent, genuine and natural waters. The “septangle” stage built over the Huangpu River highlights the show. Instrument players sit in a circle on the center of the stage, playing the original He Drum and Moon Drum together with other instruments while singing at the same time, creating a unique music scene that is “genuine, natural and future-shaping” and circulating the power within the universe. And the 49 meditators sit along the sides of the stage, praying and chanting, expressing spirituality. The ambient sound and preset acoustic wave interact with each other, echoing around. Such a multi-layer sound field and multi-dimensional perspectives from the waters give people strong sensations about the performance through listening, seeing, feeling and experiencing.

Original Sound Playing Over the Huangpu River 

Taking the ideas of “re-define sense of hearing and develop concept of music field” as the achievement, AMRTA has presented a new genre and a new form of art for the contemporary music field, drawing great attention by many contemporary organizations, collectors and artists. Long Museum, Dunhuang Art Promotion Foundation, Chinese Intangible Heritage Culture Protection Foundation, CrystalCG Shanghai Branch, and 99 Art Website, as well as major collectors and artist, such as the couple Zhao Jianping and Chen Yan, Huang Zhenxing, Jiang Zaiming, Su Minluo, Song Yingchun, the couple Yang Zheng and Wang Dan, the couple Xu Bingxiang and Yao Zhixu, Xia Wenzhu, Ye Weihua all came to appreciate AMRTA on Water. In their opinion, different from the old Chinese music, AMRTA is the new voice of China, representing the present and the future. Through AMRTA, people hear the strength in Chinese original music, which is extraordinarily precious for the time being. 

Artists