Experience The Sages
Journey Through Music
They say that music is the language of the soul, and nothing could be truer for this World Music fusion band. Composed of a group of inspirational musicians from across the globe, the artists behind The Sages have earned their reputation as a talented band to look out for. From live gigs to studio sessions and more, they continue to touch fans around the world with their distinct and enjoyable musical style. Explore the site and check out their music below.
The Sages: Biography
The Sages (竹林七贤) is a new world music fusion band project based in London that draws inspirations from different music elements throughout time and history. With the main focus on traditional East Asian music, the band consists of young students currently studying at SOAS, University of London. As a diverse cosmopolitan generation growing up under an age of globalization and other social changes, the band aims to explore the concepts between “East” and “West”, cultural identity and musical “genres” through both original composition and adaption of traditional folk music. “The Sages 竹林七贤” is a reference to a group of 7 literati, artists and scholars in ancient China who chose to escape mundane and hypocritical secular life and status to live in the remote natural countryside with the companionship of music, poetry, art (and wine) in search of a higher spiritual fulfilment.
Band Members
Yijia Tu
Lead vocals, guitar, Mongolian throat singing
Yijia Tu first appeared as a semi-finalist in the popular Chinese singer-songwriter talent show “Sing My Song” at the age of 16. After graduating from high school with a certificate in composition, Yijia released her debut album “17” with Sony Records. In collaboration with Chinese and international acclaimed musicians such grammy winner Luca Bignardi, Liu Huan, and the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the album won “Media’s Choice Award” at the renowned 2015 CMA (Chinese Music Awards). Yijia was also nominated as “Best New Chinese Artist” at the “Chinese Media Music Awards” in the same year. Yijia has also done several cross-over collaborations in the experiment of new sales format for physical albums. The song “Eventually” or “春上村树” was chosen as the theme song for Haruki Muarkami’s Chinese releasing of the book “Men Without Women” by the Shanghai Translation Publishing House. Xiaomi’s Earphone company 1MORE also released a product named after Yijia and features her music inside a USB attached to the Swarovski elements® and iF Industrial Design award-winning earphone. Yijia also performed at numerous events and festivals such as the Chongqing and Zhangbei Outdoor Music Festival, one of the largest festivals in China that features an audience of up to 80,000 people. Regardless of her previous achievements in the Chinese pop music industry, Yijia hopes to explore her interest in ethnomusicology and express her cultural identity through the fusion of traditional Eastern elements in her music. In 2016, Yijia moved to London in pursuit of her education and now studies Music at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Drawing inspirations from different music elements throughout time and history, especially from the Far East, Yijia hope to bring these under-exposed and undermined sounds to people who enjoy music. As the founder of the band project, “The Sages”, through both original musical composition and adaptation of ancient traditional sounds, Yijia hopes to keep the tradition alive and expand and diversify people’s musical taste and knowledge about interesting cultures and traditions other than their own.
Peadar Connolly-Davey
Autoharp, hulusi, ocarina, Irish whistles, overtone singing, backing vocals
Peadar Connolly Davey is a multi-instrumentalist and virtuoso from Wicklow, Ireland, who is studying ethnomusicology in SOAS, the University of London. Growing up in a musical family, Peadar discovered his passion for music at a very young age which led to him studying many different instruments, such as the piano, oboe, recorder, hulusi and autoharp. He also performs under his stage name 'PDA' as an alternative R&B-folk-fusion singer/songwriter and producer, releasing his first single 'Recovery' in March 2017. Since then, Peadar has released a solo EP entitled 'Stigma'.
The Sages
Musical Interlude by The Sages Duo | SOAS Graduation 2018 | SOAS University of London
