Artists Tour 2023: A Journey to Authenticity
Artists Tour 2023: A Journey to Authenticity
feat. Pipo Romero(ES) & Ida Elina(FI)
With the reconnection to the world, WIND MUSIC has once again successfully executed the international artists tour in Taiwan. This year, WIND MUSIC presents the fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Pipo Romero from Spain and the pop-Kantele diva Ida Elina from Finland to the Taiwanese audience. Many of the audience had never imagined such a dazzling discipline of guitar playing or the Finnish national instrument of Kantele.
The WIND MUSIC integrated themes of the series of concerts under the curative notion of "a Pilgrimage to the European String Instrument" - marking an inquiry towards the guitar, a well-known string instrument that is to be played in a very distinctive and creative manner, as well as towards the Kantele, a relatively lesser-known instrument out of Scandinavia. The mission of WIND MUSIC is to cultivate its audience's distinguished taste and to bring firsthand information on music trends worldwide. Music comes from a shared experience and simultaneously breaks the barrier of language and culture. The audience can experience foreign culture by enjoying the performance and a deeply-rooted sensational adventure.
Two Authentic Artists
Pipo Romero
When asked about the origin of the name of his latest album 'Ikigai': how does a Spanish guitar virtuoso get this notion from a Japanese philosophical concept? He gave a simple but direct answer, "I read." The concept 'Ikigai' means the reason for being and the personal motivation of the artist through his own work, a north, a meaning of life. During the Taiwan tour, Pipo Romero brought most of the repertoire from this latest album and presented the idea through his music with astonishing technique.
His music has no exaggeration or overdress, only hours and hours of practicing, reading, contemplating, and self-improving. The high demand for discipline has led him to the summit on stage. Pipo Romero does not require high-quality technical riders and equipment; according to him, his ideal form of performing should be pure acoustics and build intimacy with the audience. Pipo Romero's music travels through Spanish folk, flamenco, and classical music. The audience's sensation is teased by his slightest change of timbre and mood at every moment during the show.
Ida Elina
Taking off the coat of a diva's image, Ida Elina demonstrates an extremely approachable charisma on stage and in person. Rather than stating a profound mission of preserving the tradition of the Kantele and telling a long story of how important it is to extend the organic life of the national instrument, she gave an answer that brought us a knowing smile when asked about the initial motivation of elevating the Kantele playing to a whole new realm: "Couldn't help it, I love pop music."
That is how simple it was. Ida Elina has experienced multiple turning points when her music career did not seem to be a sustainable choice for her life. To share the courage of overcoming weakness or doubt from a seemingly successful artist might sound a bit cliche. However, with Ida Elina's background and story, the audience can feel empathy through her passionate voice and endeavor of playing and singing while operating the looper station, thus greatly encouraged by her musical commitment. That is when everyone realizes that if you are devoted to the things you were trying hard to pursue excellence, it could be anybody shining as the light on that stage.
The Queue After Show
This year, we have witnessed more enthusiasm from the audience than ever. The series of tours begins with Ida Elina's night at the Art and Performing Center of the National ChengChi University (NCCU), with a drizzle. She killed it that night! The audience entered the venue shyly and timidly while leaving with satisfaction and zealousness. The queue was formed in the blink of an eye. The audience waited in line to get Ida Elina's fan cards, album, signature, group photo, and, to many of them, a chance to express their feeling after watching the remarkable performance.
The long queue after the first show was not an exceptional phenomenon for either artist. From the beginning of the tour to the workshop at the Graduate Institute of Ethnomusicology at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU), and through the joint performance at the Art and Performing Center of National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (NYCU), finally concluded by Pipo Romero's performance with dazzling lighting at the Odeum, National Taiwan University (NTU), "thank you" is the most frequent phrase from the audience delivered to the artists during the short conversation. Despite the signature and the interaction could take even longer than the performance itself, both artists were also eager to meet their fans and insisted on writing down each of their names.
WIND MUSIC aims to build a bridge between the Taiwanese audience and the global music market tendency by introducing firsthand information and the artists that go viral through the world music scene. The queue symbolizes the connection from the inner pulse of the Taiwanese music scene to the international outlook. It brings endless potential to initiate infinite possibilities of introducing more music to the Taiwanese audience and opening conversation between cultures.
Creating Sparks
L8ching is a multi-award nominated Taiwanese drummer and singer-songwriter considered an up-and-coming musician. WIND MUSIC triggered the opportunity for collaboration between L8ching and Ida Elina. She was joined by the band member of L8ching, improvising and creating a new piece within 4 hours and recording a few tracks. We expect these tracks will be released to mark the fruitful outcome.
In addition to co-working with the local artist, a joint concert presented by Pipo Romero and Ida Elina was arranged during the tour series. The show was divided into two parts and presented by the two artists. The audience had the chance to experience the two distinctive styles of performance in one single session, which created a diversified engagement with the world music genre. The synergy also sat off the sale of albums. "I think we might have brought too few CDs this time," said Pipo Romero's agent, Marina Roveta.
Wrap Up!
In the second year of organizing tours for international artists, WIND MUSIC has made significant progress in engaging with our target audience, leveraging the promotion kit for the campaign, and successfully increasing the show fee for artists.
Audience Engagement
The selling of the merchandise during each of the shows has achieved a new record. The collaboration between WIND MUSIC social media and both artists has a bonus effect on the campaign. The promotion created success at the box office and increased the reach and engagement between the artists and the local audience. The artists' fan page has reached its record high.
Promotion Kit
The WIND MUSIC team has integrated the tour into one extensive campaign. The integration includes the key visual design, a unified concert title, posters, social media posts, and a collective album released.
The campaign helped to form a fixed image of the whole tour, sell tickets, and create more opportunities for Taiwanese audiences to interact with the artists, making the fans attach more to follow the artists' latest news feeds.
Show Fee Increase
With the tour organizing experience, the WIND MUSIC team continued to expand partnerships with significant venues. And that objective was fulfilled. In addition to maintaining the partnerships with NTU and NTNU, the Arts and Performing Center of NCCU and NYCU have also strongly connected with the WIND MUSIC. The centers were highly interested in the proposed programs and responded positively, successfully strengthening the WIND MUSIC team's ability to negotiate and increase the show fee for the artists.
What's Next?
The organizing of the tour has come to its turning point. After building solid relationships with notable universities' academic institutes as well as their arts and performing centers, the WIND MUSIC team aims to develop connections further to the business and industry field.
Enterprises offer a larger scale of budget and occasions that come with a broader connection web of show opportunities and exchanges. On the basis established in the past, we concluded that EMBA and MBA programs will be ideal targets and, thus, our next step. Our strategy is to introduce teambuilding workshops, entrepreneurship presentations of artists, and global trend observation brought by international artists based on experiences traveling worldwide.
The multi-task requirement and the comprehensive understanding of career development is an ongoing phenomenon for artists trying to build their reputations in the global market. The process, the know-how, and the international outlook within could be valuable content for students either currently holding a position or fresh graduates. The WIND MUSIC team intended to be the pioneer in bringing artists to the area.
Tour in Numbers
1 Festival
1 Radio Interview
1 Album Released
2 Artists Collaboration
4 Universities
10 Shows
150+ Albums Sold
600+ Audience Participation
Concerts’ Gallery
