Chen Yi

Chen Yi, Chinese composer and teacher; b. Guangzhou, April 4, 1953. She studied at the Beijing Central Cons. (1977–86), where her composition mentors were Wu Zu-qiang and guest composer Alexander Goehr. In 1986 she went to the U.S. and pursued training with Chou Wen-chung and Mario Davidovsky at Columbia Univ. (D.M.A., 1993). From 1993 to 1996 she served as composer-in-residence of the Women’s Phil in San Francisco and of the Aptos Creative Arts Program. In 1996 she became a teacher of composition at the Peabody Cons, of Music in Baltimore, and in 1998 a prof, of composition at the Univ. of Mo.-Kansas City Cons, of Music. In 1999 she received the first $25, 000.00 Eddie Medora King Award for Musical Composition of the Univ. of Tex. at Austin, the third largest composer’s monetary award in the U.S. Her music interweaves traditional Chinese musical rituals and contemporary Western techniques.

Works

orch.:Xian Shi, viola concerto (1983); Duo Ye No. 1 (1985) and No. 2 (N.Y., Oct. 11, 1987); 2 syms.: No. 1 (Beijing, May 31, 1986) and No. 2 (1993; San Francisco, Jan. 29, 1994); Sprout for Strings (Beijing, May 31, 1986); Two Sets of Wind and Percussion Instruments (Beijing, May 31, 1986); Piano Concerto (1992; N.Y., Oct. 14, 1994); Shuo for Strings (1994; San Jose, Calif., Jan. 22, 1995); The Linear (1994; Oakland, Calif., June 3, 1995); Ge Xu (1994; Berkeley, Jan. 28, 1995); Romance of Hsiao and Ch’in for 2 Violins and String Orch. (1995; N.Y., Aug. 11, 1996); Golden Flute for Flute and Orch. (Duluth, Nov. 8, 1997); Fiddle Suite for Huqin and Strings (1997; Tokyo, April 19, 1998; also for Chinese Fiddles, Huqin, and String Quartet); Romance and Dance for Strings (1998); Percussion Concerto (1998; Singapore, March 8, 1999); Eleanor’s Gift, cello concerto (San Francisco, Dec. 10, 1998; rev. version, N.Y., May 21, 1999); Momentum (1998; N.Y., May 2, 1999); Dunhuang Fantasy, concerto for Organ and Winds (1999); Violin Concerto (2000). chamber: String Quartet (1982; Zagreb, July 5, 1985); Woodwind Quintet (Wellesley, Mass., Aug. 5, 1987); Near Distance, sextet (1988; Kraków, Jan. 8, 1989); Sparkle, octet (N.Y., Oct. 21, 1992); Song in Winter for Harpsichord, Di, and Zheng (1993; N.Y., March 23, 1994; also for Flute, Zheng, Piano, and Percussion, Boston, March 2, 1994); Qi for Flute, Cello, Piano, and Percussion (1996–97; San Francisco, March 17, 1997); Fiddle Suite for Chinese Fiddle, Huqin, and String Quartet (1997); Feng for Wind Quintet (1998); Sound of the Five for Cello and String Quartet (1998). vocal:Three Poems from the Song Dynasty for Chorus, after Li Qing-zhao, Xin Qi- ji, and Su Shi (1985); As In A Dream for Soprano, Violin, and Viola, after Li Qing-zhao (N.Y., Oct. 17, 1988); A Set of Chinese Folk Songs for Chorus (San Francisco, April 24, 1994); Tang Poems, cantata for Chorus and Chamber Orch. (Peoría, April 27, 1995; also for Chorus); Singin’ in the Dark (Songs of the American Frontier) for Chorus and Orch. (San Francisco, July 22, 1995); Chinese Myths, cantata for Men’s Chorus and Orch. (San Francisco, June 14, 1996); Lament of the Twin Stars for Men’s Chorus, arranged from Cantonese music (1996); Spring Dreams for Chorus (Ithaca, N.Y., Nov. 15, 1997); Feng for Woodwind Quintet (1998; Berkeley, Jan. 13, 1999); Sound Of The Five for Cello and String Quartet (N.Y., Nov. 15, 1998); Chinese Poems for Children’s Chorus (San Francisco, May 24, 1999). other: Piano pieces, numerous works for solo instruments, and several works for orchestras and ensembles of Chinese instruments, including The Tide for Xun, Yangqin, Pipa, Zheng, Percussion, Gaohu, and Erhu (N.Y., Oct. 30, 1988), Suite, quintet for Pipa, Di, Yangqin, Sanxian, and Erhu (N.Y., Oct. 27, 1991), and Pipa Rhyme for Pipa and 14 Players (N.Y., June 25, 1993).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire