Mantawoman 漫她我梦 – hailed by Yo-Yo Ma as "courageous, passionate, truth-seeking" – is an artist and singer-songwriter from San Francisco. They rose to prominence as one of the world's most active and inventive yangqin players. The yangqin is a percussive string instrument from China that has 144 steel strings, which the player strikes with bamboo mallets.

 

Mantawoman (aka Reylon Yount, they/she) studied at the Central Conservatory in Beijing before recording and touring with the GRAMMY Award-winning Silkroad Ensemble from age 21. They have played major venues such as TED, Lincoln Center, and Tanglewood, featured on film soundtracks for Marvel and Netflix, and garnered millions of views on social media for their covers. Their collaborators include Vân-Ánh Võ, Caroline Polachek, Kayhan Kalhor, Johnny Gandelsman, Rhiannon Giddens, Ben Frost, Christopher Myers, and Yo-Yo Ma.

 

Effortlessly integrating traditional Chinese techniques with modern influences – which range from Brian Eno to Björk – Mantawoman's songs and soundscapes explore their feelings about love, authenticity, and spiritual transcendence. Their genrefluid performances escape definition, shifting across contemplative ballads, joyful lip-syncs, epic solos, and eerie improvisations.

 

Through their art, Mantawoman invites audiences to reconnect with the magic within themselves and reflect on their own odysseys of transformation.