Brits finding inspiration across China

Emma-Lee Moss chose Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian province as an anchor for British musicians to reach new audiences.[Photo provided to China Daily]

When London-based singer-songwriter Emma-Lee Moss, artist whose stage name is Emmy the Great applied for the program, Musicians in Residence China, which lets British musicians explore new musical territory and reach new audiences, she chose Xiamen, a coastal city in Fujian province.

"There was a description of the city (online), which has a lot of musicians living there. This appealed to me because I enjoy collaborating," says Emmy the Great. She started making music after attending music festivals as a teenager, and has released three studio albums.

Her music style, which she describes as "bedroom pop" is both pop and slightly messy.

During her four weeks stay in Xiamen over April and May, Moss says she experienced "kindness, openness, made many friends, saw the sea and felt a sense of destiny".

At her studio on Gulangyu, an island adjacent to Xiamen, she met young Chinese musicians playing Nan Yin, the traditional melodies of Fujian which originated in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). She also explored Gulangyu, once a haunt for foreign merchants and missionaries after the First Opium War and now a place for tourists.

She was also invited to be one of the judges at a university singing competition.

The Hong Kong-born singer-songwriter, whose mother is Chinese and father English, calls the trip "a special introduction to China and the start of a long relationship".

The trip inspired her to produce an album with yuanfen, or destiny, as its central theme. One of the songs in the album is about abandoned buildings on Gulangyu.

On the day she went to meet the local buildings committee, three women came to her studio. They were sisters who had been born in the house, which was her studio.

Another song is about the singer-songwriter's experience at the Guanyin Temple, a Buddhist temple.

By the time she left Xiamen, Emmy the Great was able to get around on her own, despite difficulties with language.

"On my last day, I even figured out my coffee order," she says.

"I miss Xiamen and my time there. My mum and I have agreed to take a trip to a new place in China every time I return to Asia."

Emmy the Great is one among the three musicians who are to create new work in three Chinese cities under the program.

Multi-instrumentalist and composer Quinta is currently in Guiyang, Guizhou province (April 28 to June 13), while Irish musician David Lyttle, will be in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, over September-October.

The program, initiated by the British Council, the United Kingdom's international organization for educational opportunities and cultural relations, and PRS For Music Foundation, the UK's leading funder of new music across all genres in 2011. It has so far brought 12 musicians to 11 Chinese cities, including Hangzhou, Chengdu and Xi'an.