Sa Dingding (China)

Winner of Best Asian Artist category in BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards 2008, Sa Dingding is one of the most important voices in Chinese roots-based contemporary music.

July 30, 2010 | Sines’ Castle | 23h00

Winner of 2008 BBC Radio 3 World Music Award for best Asian artist, Sa Dingding represents an original creative passion affected by ethnic diversity and shaped by a modern China. Born in the Chinese region of Inner Mongolia in 1983, Dingding grew up a nomad, travelling around eastern China with her family until they arrived in Beijing in 2000. She was the first artist in her country to sing in Sanskrit and even in an entirely self-created language – otherwise it’s in Mandarin or Tibetan – and combines traditional Chinese folk music with Western electronica and influences of classical and soul. As a singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and choreographer, Dingding owes her original style to this intriguing background and array of diverse interests. Signed to Universal just as the world focused its attention on Beijing in 2008, she was seen as a voice from the heart of contemporary China, representative of both China’s 21st-century future and its rural past. Produced by Marius De Vries (U2, Bjork, Rufus Wainwright), her second album, “Harmony” (2009) will feed the concert in Sines with its treasures.

http://www.myspace.com/dingdingsa
http://www.sadingding.co.uk/

Sa Dingding: lead vocals
Liu Wei: drums
Wen Thai: bass
Zhang Zhang: keyboards
Zhang Yi: guzheng / pipa