TravelTracks has a guest writer this week! Sarah Stewart is a freelance writer (and, full disclosure, she is also TravelTracks’ sister) who specializes in travel and recreation writing. She recently saw singer and musician Vienna Teng perform and was captivated. Read on for her account…
The haunting rise and fall fills the auditorium, from the soaring wooden rafters to my seat at the edge of the darkened room. I don’t know the words or the meaning to this Taiwanese folk song, but I don’t need to: In my mind I see a peasant woman working in a field, the sunrise turning the mist around her a golden yellow. To me it sounds like peace, and simplicity, and love.
Heard live, Vienna Teng’s voice is nothing short of arresting. I first saw this 31-year-old Taiwanese-American musician at a 20-minute set she played during a recent lecture series I attended in Boulder, Colorado. From the first a cappella notes of Teng’s rendition of “Green Island Serenade,” I was mesmerized by her clear, rich, mournful voice.
Part of the magic of that night was a sense of discovery of being entranced by a performance of which I had no prior expectations. But expectations aside, Teng’s talent shines: Through the rest of her set of English piano-pop songs (somewhat reminiscent of Vanessa Carlton), she showcased spell-binding piano skills, smart lyrics and a sort of one-woman-band effect using a recorder that plays back her percussion sounds in a loop.
Though I could better understand the language of the latter part of Teng’s set, it was that first Taiwanese ballad that most spoke to me. She explained its meaning only after singing it: This children’s lullaby that her parents used to sing to her tells of someone stranded on Green Island, formerly a political prison off Taiwan’s coast, singing to a lost loved one on the mainland. But she went on to say she believes its true meaning lies in whatever feeling it gives each individual who hears it.
So for me, it’s still the simple beauty of a sunrise over the mist.
Watch this video to get your own taste of Vienna Teng:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8nypWKa_aU]