Itinerary About → Biography

Violinist Chi-pin Hsieh and Pianist Kai-ya Chang are two native  Taiwanese who grew up with classical and pop music, they were all  professional musicians working for records and studios before they  were interested in jazz music, for exploring the broader musical  world, eventually they made up their mind to study jazz in Europe,  after five years study, they were all graduated with master's  degrees from the Jazz Department of Royal Conservatory Brussels,  Belgium, and went back to Taiwan in 2002 as two professional  musicians and active educators. 　　　　Chi-pin & Kai-ya are definitely capable of various musical styles - Swing, Bop, Fusion, Funk, Tango, Contemporary and Latin music are  all they like to perform, the repertoires they played in various  local venues cover different jazz styles, include stylists nd  composers tributes, jazz classics and re-arrangements of fruitful  subjects, they often perform in the duo format locally, but jazz  quartet and quintet setting are also their frequent orchestrations.

　　

　　　　Chi-pin and Kai-ya always consider themselves as serious Taiwanese  jazz musicians, they are not only looking for new musical ideas ,  but also composing and developing those ideas into aspiring  performances. On 11th August 2003 , they performed at the National  Recital Hall in Taipei, the "Taiwan New Jazz" Concert was well- received, and it did attracted local audience for their interest  and understanding for creative jazz music. The debut album release  by Sunrise-Records (68551) - "Impressions of Taiwan" is the  extension of Taiwan New Jazz conception, by absorbing the  atmosphere of phenomenal European jazz and the nature of  traditional American jazz, Chi-pin & Kai-ya would like to add more  "Taiwanese flavor" into thier original music - Childhood memories,  life scenes, local landscapes and customs, even tasty snacks were  all integrated into their compositions and improvisations, which  develop one kind of oriental pleasing jazz style. In March 2005,  they represented Taiwan to perform in the Java International Jazz  Festival in Jakarta. In November 2007, Chipin & Kaiya were invited  to perform in Fukuoka Japan.

　　　　In the March of 2007, three years after the debut album, Chi-pin &  Kai-ya went to Europe to record a brand new album "Mr. BeBu" with  first class European & American jazz musician, it was released in  August 2007 and became one of the most popular and best-selling  jazz album of the year. Besides, they keep active for performing,  touring and being recognized as top jazz educators & instructors in  Taiwan, furthermore they founded Taipei International Summer Jazz  Academy & Festival since 2004, offer unique education opportunity  for young jazz musicians & listeners,  and connect Taiwan to the  world by inviting numerous jazz masters for concert and teaching. Currently Chi-pin Hsieh & Kai-ya Chang both teach jazz music in the  department of music of Shih-Chien University, Taipei, Ming Chuan  University, Taipei and work with the Taipei International Jazz  Education & Promotion Association (TIJEPA) to organize annual jazz  events and regular educational programs.

　　　　Chi-pin & Kai-ya not only brings Western jazz elements into  Taiwanese original music , but also refects thier Taiwanese  background on this unique Art form.

Chi-pin Hsieh (Taiwan) – Violinist, Composer, Educator, Producer &  Promoter

Started playing violin at 5, Bachelor's degree of classical violin  from the Music Department of Chinese Culture University in Taipei,  Master's degree of jazz violin from the Royal Conservatory  Brussels, the violinist of Chipin & Kaiya's Jazz Group. He played  "Taiwan New Jazz" concert at the National Recital Hall and released  the well-acclaimed "Impressions of Taiwan" Duo album. In March,  2005, he and Kai-ya Chang were invited to perform in the Java  International Jazz Festival in Jakarta. After the performance he  immediately performed with the famous jazz pianist D.D. Jackson  (USA) in Taipei. Besides as the writer & editor of the most  professional jazz music website in Chinese - "Chipin & Kaiya's  Jazzsite", he works hard in jazz education and spreading and now  teaches in the graduate school of music and music department of  Shih-Chien University for jazz improvisation, jazz ensemble, jazz  music study, popular music and world music, and also Ming Chuan  University for Western music appreciation. From 2004, he works as  the faculty and musical director of the Taipei International Summer  Jazz Academy and also the jazz music lecturer invited by many  institutions and organizations in Taiwan. In 2007 he went to  Belgium to record the second quartet album “Mr. BeBu” to present  a new pattern of jazz in Taiwan.

Kai-ya Chang  (Taiwan) – Pianist, Composer, Educator, Producer &  Promoter