Sherbrooke Forest Photoshoot 2019
FREEDOM FLY is SIWEI,
artist, composer, pianist-keyboardist, harpist, poet and visionary.
Known for her intuitive power, imagination and authenticity, FREEDOM FLY writes music interwoven with poetry, containing both soulful and lyrical melodies, resonant with storytelling and emotional depth.
Possessing a creative musical mind and spirit, FREEDOM FLY performs her songs with a unique singing voice, and an eclectic approach to the keyboard and harp that combines both previous classical & jazz training; going anywhere between shimmering, flourishing, percussive textures, to lush jazz harmonies & raw, groovy bass-lines... or both at the same time.
April 2024 will premiere the first of Freedom Fly's solo shows "FREEDOM FLY TAKES OFF", performing her original music in a unique, intimate setting of 'concert-of-concept' - combining keyboards, voice and harp, dance and poetry.
FREEDOM FLY has led her own improvising trio (Freedom Fly Sky Magic), and supported many projects as a session musician within Melbourne and Australia-wide, performing across genres ranging from jazz-punk, spiritual jazz, rock, hip-hop, experimental, ambient, shoe-gaze, pop, soul, r'n'b, country, folk, blues and more.
Major Credits:
-
2023 - Harpist for Melbourne Opera for their full program performing 3 complete sets of Wagner's Ring Cycle.
-
2022 - Principal keyboardist for the Kutcha Edwards band for his two-and-a-half month 'Circling Time - Songs & Stories' regional VIC tour.
-
Recorded / Performed with: Rainbow Chan, Marley del Prete, Sandy Hsu, Happy Axe, Amla Periakarpan, Elle Shimada, Kieran Ruffles and Oscar Key Sung.
-
Renowned venues and festivals including Ubud Jazz Festival (Bali), MONA FOMA, WOMADedlaide, Port Fairy Folk Festival, NGV X Melbourne Music Week and White Night.
Education:
-
BMus Jazz & Improvisation (Piano), Victorian College of the Arts (VCA) / University of Melbourne [2019]
-
BEng Product Design Engineering (Honours), Swinburne University of Technology [2021]
See this link for Siwei's Honours Project in Product Design Engineering, earning a Certificate for Empathy in Design (2020) at Swinburne University of Technology
See full CV here
---
FREEDOM FLY Story
FREEDOM FLY is Chinese-Australian, a single child of migrant parents growing up in Australia (both Melbourne and Adelaide). She spent her childhood with her head in books, visual arts, listening to her parents play pop, rock and Chinese folk music, practicing Kung Fu / Tai Chi absentmindedly, writing avidly and daydreaming.
At 16 FREEDOM FLY felt an innate need to compose her own original music and follow a creative path. Post-school she began to pursue playing jazz & musical improvising in both piano and harp, whilst also expanding upon her 'spur-of-the-moment', intuitive sense of discovery, and so found herself pursuing other various interests - traveling briefly to India to learn Hindustani Indian Classical Music; performing harp in an all-women theatre performance; doing design, photography, dance and life modeling.
Counting these past years as formative of creative and spiritual growth, FREEDOM FLY has been writing songs since she was 16, marking significant stages and the emotional reflection of her experience. These songs, along with the creative process of her music / art making, will begin to be shared in the first of her upcoming solo shows "FREEDOM FLY TAKES OFF", starting in April 2024.
