Founding the Taiwan Overtone Singing Association

On 12/12/2021 we started the founding of the TOSA, or Taiwan Overtone Singing Association. It was an old dream of mine to have a more solid vehicle for my work and that of others in the field of overtone singing. But lacking reading and writing skills in Chinese I was unable to give that wish a concrete form. But then my close collaborators Sunny Chen and Jackal Mei began to question me about this and make suggestions about how to let this community grow and organise some bigger events. By now there are quite some people who have studied overtone singing with me or with other local practitioners, or with foreign teachers (often from Inner Mongolia or Tuva). There are several skilled performers and others who are improving their skills rapidly. I tend to be a bit of a loner in my work in overtone singing, but I think the time has come to really help others flower if they wish to become good overtone singers. And to show more people the beauty of this technique in all its forms, whether artistic or therapeutic, traditional or modern.

TOSA members performing on January 1 at Mei Garden Restaurant, Taipei

In the end it was Sunny Chen who has done endless amounts of paperwork to have the first small meeting of founders last December. My heartfelt thanks to her and all those who signed up as founders. The next step is to go public, and this will happen right after Chinese New Year, on February 19. On that day our chairman Sky Tseng will tell more about bigger and smaller events we are going to host every year; about a practising group to brush up your overtone singing and chanting; about concerts we will jointly attend or important books and pieces or CDs we will discuss. Professor Chung Minder, or taimu as he is known to many, will look back to twenty years of overtone singing in Taiwan, and perhaps look forward too. My old friends, and long-time overtone singing lovers (and love-couple in the first place) Wei-Lin and Qi-Chung will do a presentation, and so do I: this serves as the upbeat to a full concert we are preparing for later this year.

To make all of this happen, we need to reach a minimum of 45 members by January 28 (and not by February 19, as we thought before). We hope you will consider to sign up this month and give our association a flying start. A little extra support at this point is much needed since only a small inner circle of people knows about this initiative. Once we get started in February we can reach out to more people.

TOSA founding meeting no. 1, 12/12/2021

2021 年 12 月 12 日，我們著手成立 TOSA，即「台灣泛音詠唱協會」（Taiwan Overtone Singing Association）。協會將在 2 月 19 日舉辦一場盛大活動，在一個美麗的新空間舉辦音樂會和講座，作為協會對外公開的開端。我想在此邀請你一同加入，成為協會成員。我長久以來都夢想能在泛唱領域為自己和其他藝術家創建更實際的平台。但由於中文讀寫能力有限，我遲遲無法實現這個願望。直到我身邊的合作夥伴 Sunny Chen 和 Jackal Mei 開始詢問我相關的想法，並提出發展組織及舉辦大型活動的建議，我的心願才開始逐步實踐。目前為止已經有不少人學習泛唱，可能是跟我學習，也可能是跟台灣或國外的老師學習（通常來自內蒙古或圖瓦）。近年來，有好幾位技術純熟的表演者和泛音愛好者，他們的技巧與日俱進。我在泛唱方面的工作往往是獨立進行，但我認為是時候幫助更多有志專精泛音詠唱的人發光發熱了！同時我也想與更多人分享泛唱各種形式的美，涵蓋藝術、療癒、傳統、現代等各個層面。

更多關於 2 月活動和 TOSA 計劃的訊息都可以在這裡找到。請註冊並成為會員！根據規定，我們需要在 2 月 19 日之前招募足夠的會員，所以如果可以，請現在（或在 1 月底前）點選連結，協助我們推動計劃。非常感謝你！

最後是 Sunny 做了大量文書工作，在去年 12 月召開了第一次小型的發起人會議。我衷心感謝 Sunny 和所有登記的發起人。協會的下一步是對外公開，時間將是農曆年後的 2 月 19 日。那一天，理事長 Sky Tseng 將詳細介紹協會大小年度活動、一起精進泛唱技巧的練唱小組、成員共同參與的音樂會、還有我們列入討論項目的重要書籍、作品和專輯。鍾明德教授（也就是大家熟知的大木老師）則會回顧台灣 20 年的泛音詠唱史。另外一個重頭戲是泛唱圈的佳偶啟仲和維琳的泛音雙重唱，他們是我的老朋友，也是資深的泛音愛好者。我自己也會有一段泛音獨唱，這兩段演出將為今年籌備中的正式音樂會開啟序幕。

為了實現這一切，我們需要在 1 月底前招募至少 45 名會員（不是之前以為的 2 月 19 日）。所以我們希望大家能在這個月註冊，讓協會能有一個好的開始。這方面我們非常需要一些額外的支持，因為目前只有少部分人知道這個計畫。一旦在 2 月正式對外公開，我們就能觸及更多人了。