This year brought an interesting change to my typical year-end routine.
Usually, musicians like me are asked to perform at midnight to celebrate the moment calendars flip over to the coming year.
Actually, the traditional midnight celebration has never been of interest to me, as midnight between December 31st and January 1st is a concept which has no significance in nature.
More interestingly, our calendar’s year-end is derived from the winter solstice which occurs on December 21st or 22nd of each year. This is when our planet’s relationship to the sun changes, bringing a return to warmer seasons.
This year, I was invited to perform for the new-year sunrise atop Taiwan’s scenic Alishan (Ali Mountain). This was an opportunity to celebrate something truly special.
And so my fiancée and I and my 6 musicians, their girlfriends or wives and children, along with our support crew, left Taipei on December 31st at 16:00 and traveled by high-speed rail for 90 minutes to Chiayi. We then drove up a winding road for 90 minutes in a small bus to a high mountain village on Alishan where an aboriginal dance performance was taking place.
By request, I hopped onstage and briefly greeted a happy crowd in the drizzling darkness, attempting my best pronunciation of the word “welcome” in the Tzou tribe’s aboriginal language.
“Ah-vi-viu-i!”
They were all here to witness the coming sunrise, and a buzz of excitement mingled with the cold, wet mountain air.
We continued by bus for another 40 minutes to the mountain’s peak, finally arriving at a helicopter landing pad where our concert was to take place the following dawn.
It was now 22:00, and our stage, grand piano, sound system, piano tuner and technical crew were waiting for us to soundcheck.
As I watched my musicians prepare their positions and test their stage monitors, I looked around at the friends and girlfriends and wives standing nearby, and a sense of “déjà vous” came to me.
This scene has been a part of my life ever since high school when I was playing with my band at parties and events, and it has been a recurring scene in all my years since.
Every time this scene returns, I feel a deep respect for all musicians and those who stand by them.
Musicians are special people. They have chosen sound as the product they create and survive from, and their product is only intended to create passion in the hearts of others.
And let me tell you, they are rarely doing this for the money — it is often much easier to get a “day job” and make more money in other occupations.
They do it for the love of the music, and those who stand by them share a similar love.
They are Soldiers of Sound, and I am honoured to present our sound together.
After our sunrise performance for 15,000 revelers, I watched as these weary-yet-happy people trekked back down the mountain.
I reflected on how all these people had arrived on foot, walking to this protected nature area for the sole purpose of watching the sun rise.
Just like my musicians, these were no ordinary people! These are Soldiers of the Sun!
They share a passion to witness our Earth’s rolling into the sun on this special day, because they know we live on an amazing planet, rolling around an amazing sun, in an amazing universe.
It was a good way to begin a new year, joined together with those who share a common love for life, sound, and the sun!
Usually, musicians like me are asked to perform at midnight to celebrate the moment calendars flip over to the coming year.
Actually, the traditional midnight celebration has never been of interest to me, as midnight between December 31st and January 1st is a concept which has no significance in nature.
More interestingly, our calendar’s year-end is derived from the winter solstice which occurs on December 21st or 22nd of each year. This is when our planet’s relationship to the sun changes, bringing a return to warmer seasons.
This year, I was invited to perform for the new-year sunrise atop Taiwan’s scenic Alishan (Ali Mountain). This was an opportunity to celebrate something truly special.
And so my fiancée and I and my 6 musicians, their girlfriends or wives and children, along with our support crew, left Taipei on December 31st at 16:00 and traveled by high-speed rail for 90 minutes to Chiayi. We then drove up a winding road for 90 minutes in a small bus to a high mountain village on Alishan where an aboriginal dance performance was taking place.
By request, I hopped onstage and briefly greeted a happy crowd in the drizzling darkness, attempting my best pronunciation of the word “welcome” in the Tzou tribe’s aboriginal language.
“Ah-vi-viu-i!”
They were all here to witness the coming sunrise, and a buzz of excitement mingled with the cold, wet mountain air.
We continued by bus for another 40 minutes to the mountain’s peak, finally arriving at a helicopter landing pad where our concert was to take place the following dawn.
It was now 22:00, and our stage, grand piano, sound system, piano tuner and technical crew were waiting for us to soundcheck.
As I watched my musicians prepare their positions and test their stage monitors, I looked around at the friends and girlfriends and wives standing nearby, and a sense of “déjà vous” came to me.
This scene has been a part of my life ever since high school when I was playing with my band at parties and events, and it has been a recurring scene in all my years since.
Every time this scene returns, I feel a deep respect for all musicians and those who stand by them.
Musicians are special people. They have chosen sound as the product they create and survive from, and their product is only intended to create passion in the hearts of others.
And let me tell you, they are rarely doing this for the money — it is often much easier to get a “day job” and make more money in other occupations.
They do it for the love of the music, and those who stand by them share a similar love.
They are Soldiers of Sound, and I am honoured to present our sound together.
After our sunrise performance for 15,000 revelers, I watched as these weary-yet-happy people trekked back down the mountain.
I reflected on how all these people had arrived on foot, walking to this protected nature area for the sole purpose of watching the sun rise.
Just like my musicians, these were no ordinary people! These are Soldiers of the Sun!
They share a passion to witness our Earth’s rolling into the sun on this special day, because they know we live on an amazing planet, rolling around an amazing sun, in an amazing universe.
It was a good way to begin a new year, joined together with those who share a common love for life, sound, and the sun!
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