Thirteen Canadian musicians—including six from Vancouver—will perform at an international music festival in Taiwan. All of the Vancouver performers plan to sing in either Mandarin, Cantonese or Taiwanese (Hokkien) at the Jade Music Fest in Asia, which runs from Friday (April 25) to Sunday (April 27) at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei.
One of the multilingual artists is Alex See, who specializes in bittersweet pop songs laden with meaningful lyrics. She grew up in Richmond as the daughter of Hong Kong immigrants, who enrolled her in classical music as a kid.
“We need Asians to express ourselves through music,” See says in the Jade Music Fest video below. “Otherwise, we won’t see ourselves represented in the industry.”
See performed at Performance Works last November in her first Jade Music Fest appearance. On that occasion, she sang in English and Mandarin.
Alex See speaks about the importance of Asian representation in the music industry.
Vancouver multidisciplinary artist Van Lefan will be returning for her second Jade Music Fest in Asia. Born in northern Taiwan, Lefan recently released her second full-length studio album, Unsent Letters: To Whom It May Concern, which includes songs in Mandarin as well as in English.
“Writing has become a huge part of how I process experiences through my life, whether it’s poetry or journal entries or letters to myself,” Lefan told Pancouver earlier this month.
She is also a multi-instrumentalist, often performing flute as well as guitar during her shows. In addition to singing and writing songs, Lefan is a sound, visual, media, and dance artist who practises northern Shaolin kung fu.
Ginalina returns to JMF in Asia
Earlier this year, Lefan co-wrote and sang “New Year Is Here” for Lunar New Year with three other Vancouver musicians. Two of them—Ginalina and Daniel Lew—will also play the Jade Music Fest in Asia for the second consecutive year.
Ginalina, a four-time Juno nominee, performs fusion folk, integrating sounds from both sides of the Pacific Ocean into elegantly crafted songs. Her parents are from Taiwan and she has recorded music in English, French, Mandarin, and Taiwanese.
She wrote “Going Back”, the title track on one of her albums, as a reminder of the value of honouring one’s roots.
Watch the music video (above) for Ginalina’s “Going Back”.
The festival provides a platform for underrepresented Canadian and international artists who want to perform in their heritage Chinese languages. It also offers opportunities for artists from different parts of the world to make connections that have led to future musical partnerships.
For instance at this year’s event, there will be a “speed-dating session” connecting professional Taiwanese and Canadian musicians. In addition, Taiwanese musicians will be able to present their work to three music festival curators in B.C.
Moreover, Ginalina will perform a collab show with the Suona Gang, which is a Taiwanese band that makes contemporary music with a traditional Chinese wind instrument. In addition, Ginalina will perform a second collab show with Taiwanese-Australian singer-songwriter Kim Yang and two Taiwanese Hakka folk singer-songwriters: Shuchan Chiu and Joyin Wang.
Daniel Lew embraces singing in Chinese
Lew, a third-generation Chinese Canadian, will perform a collab show with the Taiwanese Hakka folk band HoNi. His mother speaks some Taishanese (a.k.a. Toisan or Toisanese) and his father speaks Cantonese, but Lew grew up speaking English.
He tried his hand at singing in Chinese languages following his appearance at first Jade Music Fest in Vancouver in 2023. Last year at the Jade Music Fest in Asia, Lew sang covers in Cantonese and Mandarin. He also added Mandarin lyrics to his English-language songs.
Since then, he has written and performed original songs in Cantonese and Mandarin. His most recent album is A Day at Echoplant.
Kristin Fung and Jas Wishes will perform
The two other Vancouver musicians making the trip to Taipei have family roots in Hong Kong. The funky, soulful, and charismatic Kristin Fung is a lead singer, keyboardist, composer, and improviser. In 2024, she co-wrote “Glory Days” with Toronto musician Jacq Teh, who will also perform at the Jade Music Fest in Asia.
Fung’s 2023 EP “Live at the Garden” included the original songs “Massive Stride”, “You for You”, “Transcontinental Crush”, and “Beauty is a Wound”. She also included a cover of the Alicia Keyes song “Wreckless Love”.
“There’s something very divine about creativity if we open ourselves up and allow ourselves to be just the instrument—almost an empty vessel—just being filled by goodness,” Fung told Pancouver before her first Jade Music Fest appearance in Vancouver in 2023.
Another Vancouver musician at the Jade Music Fest in Asia is Jas Wishes. A poetic folk singer-songwriter, she was once a jazz vocalist and recording engineer in Hong Kong. However, in 2019, she took her guitar to Europe and busked in front of strangers, honing her skills as a folk artist.
Wishes recorded her first original songs in 2024 and makes her home in Vancouver.
Listen to Jas Wishes perform “An Honest Soul”.
Aysanabee heads to Asia
Meanwhile, Toronto-based Aysanabee, the 2024 Juno Award winner for Songwriter of the Year, will close the festival on Sunday—a day entirely devoted to Canadian artists. Furthermore, the Oji-Cree musician from the Sucker Clan of the Sandy Lake First Nation will perform a set on Friday night amid three Indigenous acts from Taiwan: Paiwan Indigenous fusion artist Sauljaljui, Amis singer-songwriter Suming Rupi, and a Gen Z trio called the Nanguaq Girls. These young women—Kivi (Paiwan), Makav (Bunun), and Dremedreman (Paiwan)— perform Indigenous pop, tribal fusion, modern chant, world Indigenous, and contemporary roots music.
In addition to Teh, there will also be five other performers with Chinese ancestry from the Greater Toronto Area at the festival: Aiko Tomi, Tennyson King, Chynna Lewis, Dr. Holic, and Vicki Lovelee. They can all perform contemporary music in at least one Chinese languages.
Taiwan rarely hosts international music festivals focused on bilateral collaboration, which makes this year’s Jade Music Fest in Asia a groundbreaking event. There will be 15 Taiwanese solo artists and bands, including indie rockers Sorry Youth and Shallow Levée, and Taiwanese folk band TUDI-VOICE. Sorry Youth, Suona Gang, Joyin Wang, and HoNi have all performed in the past at TAIWANfest events in either Vancouver or Toronto.
The Jade Music Fest in Asia proudly declares that it focuses on linguistic equity, so Canadian artists don’t feel obliged to perform all songs in a Chinese language. Nor do the musicians who grew up in Asia feel that they must perform in English.
Trade official praises collaborations
The Taiwan Canada Society organized the Jade Music Fest in Asia. The Society of We Are Canadians Too is the co-organizer. The Huashan 1914 Creative Park and the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei are listed as supporters
“This festival serves as an extraordinary platform to celebrate the rich musical traditions of both Canada and Taiwan, while fostering meaningful dialogue between artists, audiences, and industry leaders,” said Jim Nickel, executive director of the Canadian Trade Office in Taipei, in a news release. “Over the course of this three-day event, we will experience performances and collaborations that not only showcase the incredible talent of performers like Aysanabee but also emphasize the strength of our bilateral ties and our shared love for creativity and cultural expression. I eagerly anticipate the lasting connections that will emerge from this exciting celebration and the future opportunities for collaboration!”
Panel discussions will focus on artificial intelligence in music and how government funding in Canada and Taiwan supports cross-border creativity and cultural exchanges.
“Music is more than performance—it’s identity, memory, and connection,” said Jade Music Fest in Asia co-organizer Charlie Wu. “Jade Music Fest offers an inspiring example of what’s possible when artists from all over the world come together not just to perform, but to truly listen to one another.”
The Taiwan Canada Society organized The Jade Music Fest in Asia with co-organizer The Society of We Are Canadians Too. It will take place at Huashan 1914 Creative Park in Taipei from April 25 to 27. Follow Pancouver on X @PancouverMedia and Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social. Also find Pancouver on Instagram @PancouverMedia. Follow Charlie Smith on Bluesky @charliesmithvcr.bsky.social.
