Dawn Xiana Moon
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A seductive and passionate voice, evocative songwriting, and formal training make Dawn Xiana Moon one of the most distinctive Asian-American singers of her generation. With influences ranging from traditional Chinese music to modern American folk, she bridges the musical traditions of the East and West.
Moon was born in Singapore, a cultural melting pot with a rich mixture of Chinese, British, Thai, Indian, Japanese, and Malaysian backgrounds. She began her musical training early, studying classical piano at the age of five; not long after, her family moved to the United States, settling just outside of Detroit. Her piano, a gift from her grand-uncle, traveled the 9000 miles to their new home.
Continuing her classical training in the Midwest, she earned prizes for piano, flute, and voice in regional competitions. But it was her first year at the University of Michigan, where she studied literature and theatre, that shifted her musical paradigm: she broke out of her mold and began to play the guitar. “It was like anarchy,” she says. “For the first time in my life, I wasn’t limited to the notes a composer told me to play. I was improvising instead of just reading music.” Two months later, she was writing folk-pop songs evoking artists like Over the Rhine, Damien Rice, Sufjan Stevens, and fellow Chinese-American Vienna Teng. A few years later, she was touring throughout the Midwest and East Coast with a guitar and keyboard in tow. She moved to Chicago and began collaborating on projects ranging from a commissioned piece for Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre (with composer Christian Matjias) to the film Chase + Mello.
Moon was born in Singapore, a cultural melting pot with a rich mixture of Chinese, British, Thai, Indian, Japanese, and Malaysian backgrounds. She began her musical training early, studying classical piano at the age of five; not long after, her family moved to the United States, settling just outside of Detroit. Her piano, a gift from her grand-uncle, traveled the 9000 miles to their new home.
Continuing her classical training in the Midwest, she earned prizes for piano, flute, and voice in regional competitions. But it was her first year at the University of Michigan, where she studied literature and theatre, that shifted her musical paradigm: she broke out of her mold and began to play the guitar. “It was like anarchy,” she says. “For the first time in my life, I wasn’t limited to the notes a composer told me to play. I was improvising instead of just reading music.” Two months later, she was writing folk-pop songs evoking artists like Over the Rhine, Damien Rice, Sufjan Stevens, and fellow Chinese-American Vienna Teng. A few years later, she was touring throughout the Midwest and East Coast with a guitar and keyboard in tow. She moved to Chicago and began collaborating on projects ranging from a commissioned piece for Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre (with composer Christian Matjias) to the film Chase + Mello.
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