In this opening episode, host James Hewison sits down with composer and guzheng virtuoso Mindy Meng Wang for an intimate conversation about bridging cultures, genres, and personal experiences through music.

Episode Highlights

Mindy traces her artistic roots to childhood in Lanzhou, where the guzheng became both structured discipline and creative doorway. She discusses the early pressure to conform to classical expectations, and how relocating to the UK and Australia allowed her to reimagine the instrument as a platform for experimentation and cross-cultural storytelling.

Tradition meets innovation: Mindy reveals how she unlearned rigidities to rediscover emotional truth in her playing. Collaborations with electronic musicians, jazz ensembles, and experimental producers became catalysts for reinvention—expressing ...