The neoclassical chamber group from Taiwan, Cicada, creates music to bring attention to the protection of nature. [Provided to China Daily]
When Jesy Chiang went to an industrial area in Taiwan, she had a preconceived notion - the place would be polluted.
"But then I was greeted with bright sunshine, flowers and a sea that takes everything in," says Chiang, the main composer and pianist of Taiwan quintet Cicada.
"Then I realized how magnanimous nature is."
That's how Into the Ocean, one of their melodious works on Taiwan's surrounding sea, coastline and offshore islands, came about.
Cicada, a 6-year-old band which features the piano, stringed instruments and an acoustic guitar, has just ended a tour of major mainland cities.
The tour, which started in Beijing last weekend ended at Shenzhen's B10 Livehouse on Tuesday.
Variously labeled as a neoclassical chamber group and a post-rock band, Cicada is enjoying the growing popularity.
It recently entered an Australian post-rock compilation called Silent Ballet.
Eunice Chung, who plays the viola with Cicada, says: "The ocean is part of our lives even if you don't live near it. There are times that you'll want to spend hours just looking at it."
For the last three years, the group has visited nearly every place along Taiwan's coastline from east to west, surfed and even dived to understand the ocean better.
Hsieh Wei-Lun, the group's guitarist says: "If you stay only on the shore, the sea is a happy place with sunshine and all.
"But once under the water, you have to struggle to maintain even the things you take for granted, so there is renewed reverence for the sea."
These sentiments have gone into Cicada's music.
From happy, hopeful pieces to more mellow, sobering ones, Cicada has created two albums on the subject. Most of the songs are "picturesque".
As Chiang says: "After all, we're storytellers."
Their music is also a kind of guide to Taiwan's coastline, as it depicts various terrains - from offshore islands and gravel sand beaches to schools of fish and bubbles rising from the depths of water.
They've also composed a song for Green Island, which is off eastern Taiwan.
With warm undercurrents called the Black Tide, the island and its surrounding seas are different. The island's residents live differently, too.
As Chiang says: "People on the island survive on weekly supplies shipped from the main island."
Ocean Foam, a soothing, thought-provoking piece from their latest album, Light Shining through the Sea, is for Taiwan's Alangyi Trail.
The 12-kilometer trail is one of the island's best nature reserves, displaying the diversity of its flora and fauna.
Describing it, Chiang says: "It's possibly the only place without a highway. After seeing it, we hope to chip in and preserve the rare sight as it is."
The sea-related music project took shape as environmental awareness began to grow in Taiwan in the past few years.
Then, many local artists began to create works based on the natural environment so it's protected and treasured.
