Since the 90’s, Semay Wu has been a regular presence in NW England, with Homelife, Mayming, The Earlies, and others. She’s written a host of music for various media, dance and theatre, while also recording and performing for a vast number of others on cello. Now based in Scotland, she’s actively focusing on her own imaginations, collaborative or solo, as composer-performer, improviser and sound/media-artist.
Her primary sound is electro-acoustic, and current musings reassess her relationship with her cello by rattling “the strangulated tones she gets out of it...” Along with household objects, toys and her cello, Semay Wu’s improvisations begin to morph into an orchestral ecosystem of babbling sounds.
Raspberry Hotel - Akashic Records, Glasgow – 2022
"Raspberry Hotel’ is the long-awaited solo debut LP by cellist Semay Wu […] here left to her own devices on ravishingly inventive improvisations made in Glasgow. Her first solo album is collaged from […] unpredictable instrumental experimentation from her trusty cello plus a range of toys, electronics and everyday objects. The results form a semi-live showcase where runs of in-the-moment thought are ruptured with fleeting jump-cuts and spangled with a distinctive playfulness that will charm lovers of free music and sculptural sound art by artists ranging from Okkyung Lee to Rhodri Davies or Andy Votel, Sean Canty & Doug Shipton’s mixtape collages.” - Boomkat
Her second (digital) release, Sharmanka, was with Scatter Archive Label, in 2023, combining two live recordings of performances in 2019 and 2022, at Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre, Glasgow.
Semay has had numerous performances since then, notably at Tectonics Festival in Glasgow, and the Newcastle Jazz and Improvised Music Festival, both in 2023. A new release is expected to be available for the tour.
