Tan Dun creates music space with water

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Academy Award-winning Chinese composer Tan Dun has co-designed a performing arts center that he hopes will provide audiences with a unique listening experience for his signature "organic music".

Model of the 'Water Music Hall.'

Model of the "Water Music Hall." [China.org.cn]

 

The "Water Music Hall" is in Zhujiajiao, a popular tourist destination located in Shanghai's Qingpu District, known for the ancient river and waterways on which it is built. Tan worked with architects from the Japanese design studio Arata Isozaki & Associates to renovate a Ming Dynasty residential compound.

At a press conference on Wednesday (September 8), Tan said that the design concept incorporates the river water which pulses through the town to create a "floating" effect for musical performances. The artist called his project an attempt to integrate the Bauhaus approach on Ming Dynasty architecture, or "Minhaus". He says that the German concept was the inspiration behind using a dilapidated building to create a modern art space.

The musician Tan Dun.

The musician Tan Dun. [China.org.cn]

 

The Water Music Hall embodies Tan's approach to composing music. The composer often borrows from nature, and uses the sounds of water and paper to compose his world-renowned Water and Paper Concertos.

The venue's first concert is scheduled for September 29 - also the date of its official grand opening. Tan hopes to open the stage to other musicians and visual artists in the future.

Tan is best known for composing the Oscar-winning musical score of Ang Lee's martial-arts film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon".

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