Performers at Aside 13, 30 April 2016

The Road Less Traveled” is the theme for this Aside. What are attributes that make a person feel fulfilled? What does it mean to constantly seek new visions, to extend beyond normal boundaries and to step boldly down that ‘road less traveled’. Unbounded passion is the driving force behind their actions and growth as artists and human beings.
Please join Red Room International Village on April 30, 2016 as each of these artists share their individual journeys encompassing words, sounds and music. Let us support their quest for inspired vision and new means of expression.

For details and reservations please go to this link.


About Aside:
Aside derives its name from the theatrical term of “taking an aside,” where characters break the fourth wall to address the audience directly with their insight, secret aspirations, and original perspectives.

The presenters at Aside are individuals who have found inspiration in their craft and in turn have shared their inspiration with us. They utilize their discipline to communicate with creativity and breach the gap between artist and audience.

Tina Ma

TINA MA // SINGER / RED ROOM MUSE 歌手 & 紅房繆斯

Tina Ma is the Red Room resident muse. She has attended nearly every single Aside the Red Room has had, crossing themes and genres with her poise and grace. Tina performs traditional music in several Chinese dialects, and she has recently been pursuing the ancient art of Shamanism, taking her experience to an even farther realm.

Tina Ma 是紅房的常駐繆斯。她參與了將近每一個紅房舉辦過的Aside,以優雅的姿態及氣質結合各種題材及類型。Tina 以各種不同中文方言表演傳統音樂,而最近更開始學習薩滿古教以增進自己的經驗。

Mia Hsieh

MIA HSIEH // PERFORMANCE ARTIST

Mia Hsieh, a performance artist, draws creative inspiration from her roots in Asian culture as well as an assimilation of experimental and improvisational art forms. She was featured on The Discovery Channel, NPR (National Public Radio), BBC etc.. Mia is the vocalist of the internationally recognized A Moving Sound music group, performing in more than 20 countries. She has collaborated with visual artists, film directors, fashion designers and created several music-dance-theater pieces. Mia is also leading voice and dance workshop which guides deeply into creativity and self exploration.

Mia是台灣少數融合創造力與靈性療癒的表演藝術家,跨界舞蹈、器樂、人聲,其充滿穿透力的聲音,常在瞬間引領聽者進入神秘的內在感動。創辦聲動樂團/跨界劇場,受邀赴歐、美、亞洲二十多國演出,國際媒體Discovery、BBC、NPR專訪,錄製三張音樂專輯、入圍金曲獎。Mia同時在台灣及國際上帶領課程,探索聲音與身體的創造能量。

Synopsis:
Mia entitled this solo voice performance “Soundscape”. She uses voice, handpan, loop station to present a structured improvisation. The minimal, poetic and experimental quality, unfolds a rich inner journey.
人聲、迴路器、手盤鼓,在Mia的結構即興下,呈現了極簡、實驗性、詩意的聲線,引動出無限想像的內在風景。

www.amovingsound.com
FB:amovingsound.taiwan
FB:miasound

Sue de Simone

SUE DESIMONE // SINGER / SONGWRITER

Susan began her amazing journey in Boston on August 17, 1962.
Her earliest memories always centered around music. Her grandfather emigrated from Italy, and she grew up watching him “conduct” Italian operas that he frequently played on his phonograph. Her mother always reminded her that the first song Susan sang was The Beatles’
“I Saw Her Standing There.”

Susan enjoyed a foray in the world of college radio at the University of Rhode Island, and moved back to Boston in 1985 with the hopes of pursuing a career in radio or music. Although she was hired by Rounder Records, she opted to take a job at Boston University, where she studied Voice for a year at BU’s School for the Arts, and completed her Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Perhaps it was fate that she took this route instead of the one she thought she yearned for, since she met her future husband, Sujoy in 1989, who was a PhD student at the time.

Life has taken many twists and turns since graduating and leaving Boston in 1995. After spending a very crazy year in Dallas, she and her husband moved north and relished the art soaked world of Montreal, but alas, only lasted ten months in that arctic tundra!
San Diego was the next stop, where their daughter Anjoli was born in 1998.
After going through twelve hour brain surgery in 2007, in Boston, en route to relocating to Taiwan, Susan underwent quite a traumatic, but ultimately healing experience once she reached Taipei. Thanks to a kind, wise, talented Chinese medicine doctor, she was able to recover from the removal of a large, benign, but life threatening brain tumor.
Adjusting to life in Taiwan proved to be quite challenging for Susan, but after finding a recovery group, she was able to face and heal from an alcohol addiction which had held her back creatively for many years.

Life for Susan soared to new heights in 2015. She was cast as extra in the Scorsese film, Silence, and to date has acted in four commercials and is a vocal artist for a local publisher. In the summer of 2015, she made her theatrical debut- playing the role of Margaret in the Butterfly Effect Theatre production, A Perfect Ganesh. Susan enjoys performing music and movement workshops with children. She is trained in both Kindermusik and the Orff Method. She has developed a workshop for children entitled, “The History of Rock,” which traces the roots of rock music back to Africa and slavery in the US. Susan also directed her first children’s musical last year, a dramatic and musical interpretation of the Disney movie, “Inside Out.”

Ruth Giordano

RUTH GIORDANO // RED ROOM RADIO REDUX

Ruth has been devoted to the performing arts since early childhood. Experienced in dance, drama, opera, film, costuming & puppetry, she has played at most every level in almost every capacity: as performer, writer, director, designer and builder. Her current passion is for sharing a great story with the folks of the community. For Ruth, community and communication are at the heart of the theatre experience.

Ruth: “Theatre brings people together. “Making theater is a collaborative effort requiring tireless teamwork. Artists, designers, technicians and audience come together and demonstrate –live! – the power of the spoken word.”

Red Room Radio Redux (R4) was conceived as a means to share great classic literature with a wide audience using simple techniques of readers’ theater and radio drama. In our productions, we seek to re-kindle an appreciation for the literary tradition and to find common purpose through a shared, re-imagined experience of these great works.
A not-for-profit organization, R4 is always grateful for support in any form: technical assistance online and onstage, gifts in-kind and, of course, sponsorship. If you can help in any way, please email us at r4.radioredux@gmail.com

Scott Prairie

SCOTT PRAIRIE // SINGER / SONGWRITER / COMPOSER

Scott Prairie is a singer songwriter and world music composer now based in Taipei, Taiwan after ten years of performing in New York City. He has a diverse artistic background drawing from his studies in music, visual art, and psychology. He trained as a conservatory French Horn player at Carnegie Mellon University. Scott performed in many of New York City’s most respected centers for creative art as a singer songwriter and experimental musician, including CBGB’s, The Kitchen, and The Knitting Factory and worked with members of groups such as Guided By Voices and Sonic Youth.

He has performed in twenty-countries including The Kennedy Center and The Melbourne International Arts Festival with Taipei-based “A Moving Sound”, a group he co-created with his wife Mia Hsieh. Their music has been featured on NPR’s “All Things Considered”, BBC Radio 3, Huffington Post and The Discovery Channel.