Vienna Teng
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| Vienna Teng | |
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 Teng performing at Mississippi Studios in Portland, Oregon while on her Green Caravan tour. Photo by Adam J. Manley.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Cynthia Yih Shih[1][2] (Chinese: 史逸欣, Pinyin: Shǐ Yìxīn) |
| Born | October 3, 1978 Saratoga, California, United States of America |
| Genre(s) | Folk, Pop |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano |
| Years active | 2003 - present |
| Label(s) | Virt, Rounder |
| Website | http://www.viennateng.com |
Vienna Teng (born Cynthia Yih Shih on October 3, 1978) is a Taiwanese American pianist and singer-songwriter based in New York City. Teng has released three studio albums, Waking Hour (2002), Warm Strangers (2004), and Dreaming Through The Noise (2006).
Teng's musical style incorporates folk, pop, classical piano, and a cappella influences. She uses piano as her primary instrument and charges her lyrics with emotion, narrative, and personal history. Teng is a baseline alto but sings over a wide range.
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[edit] Career
Teng took her stage name "Vienna" from the capital city of Austria. A native of Saratoga, California, she began playing classical piano at age 5. While pursuing a degree in computer science at Stanford University, Teng joined the Stanford Harmonics, a student-run a cappella group.[3] She began recording her compositions at the studios in Stanford's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), intending to distribute her music on campus. Many of these recordings were eventually released in her debut album Waking Hour. After graduating in 2000, Teng worked as a software engineer for Cisco Systems, but she continued to write music and perform in her free time. In 2002, Teng signed with Virt Records and quit Cisco Systems to focus on her musical career.
Teng's first major national exposure was on the David Letterman show in January 2003; she has since made appearances on the CBS Saturday Early Show, National Public Radio's Weekend Edition, CNN's NewsNight with Aaron Brown, and The Wayne Brady Show, and opened in concert for Joan Baez, Shawn Colvin, Joan Osborne, Sarah Harmer, and Marc Cohn. Her first album, Waking Hour, peaked at #5 on the Amazon.com bestseller list; her second album, Warm Strangers, reached as high as #2.[4][5] In 2006, Teng signed with Zoë/Rounder.[6]
From December 2006 to early 2007, she toured extensively in the United States to promote the release of her third album, Dreaming Through the Noise. Teng co-headlined with Duncan Sheik and opened for Madeleine Peyroux. She began the Green Caravan Tour in April 2007, accompanied by cellist Marika Hughes, violinist Dina Maccabee, and percussionist Alex Wong, along with opening acts such as David Berkeley and Jenny Owen Youngs.
Teng's songs have been featured in a number of television projects, including the series Ed and on the Discovery Channel.
Teng contributed vocals to the song "One 2 One" by hip-hop duo Magnetic North.
[edit] Music
Although the majority of Teng's recordings are in English, the hidden track "Green Island Serenade" on Warm Strangers is performed in Mandarin Chinese. The song is a 1950's Taiwanese classic famously performed by Teresa Teng.
[edit] Discography
- Waking Hour (May 28, 2001; self-produced)
- Waking Hour (2002) (November 5, 2002; Virt Records)
- Warm Strangers (February 24, 2004; Virt Records)
- Dreaming Through the Noise (July 25, 2006; Zoë/Rounder)
[edit] Notes
- ^ STANFORD Magazine: November/December 2003 > Showcase > Noteworthy
- ^ http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-0612110136dec11,1,1818892.story?coll=chi-ent_music-hed
- ^ Alums. Harmonics Alums. Retrieved on 2007-05-14.
- ^ Vienna Teng - News (2003). Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
- ^ Rounder Records - Vienna Teng - Bio. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
- ^ Zoë/Rounder Records Signs Vienna Teng. Retrieved on 2006-12-02.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- ViennaTeng.com - Vienna Teng's official website.
- v1.ViennaTeng.com - Vienna Teng's first website (2000-2004).
- WarmStrangers.com - Unofficial fansite with song anecdotes, a list of unreleased tracks, and a database of live performances.
- Vienna Teng collection at the Internet Archive's live music archive
- Paradigm interview - August 2007 interview with Vienna Teng. Located under "Music."
- Collectedsounds.com - Interview in which Vienna Teng discusses her musical history and influences.
- Sept. 2007 Vienna Teng interview from asiaXpress.com
- 2002 Vienna Teng interview in her hometown of Saratoga, Calif.
