UE composers from China

Bo Dai

Composer ,Pianist , Harpsichordist,PhD in Composition and the Lecturer of Composition Department at Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM), Beijing.

He won second place in the 2014 Beethoven Association International Composition Competition, and his award-winning work "Invisible Mountains" has toured in Poland, Norway, and the United States. Dai Bo is hailed by the renowned composer Krzysztof Penderecki as “one of the most talented young composers among his peers.” Rachel Copper, the art director of the US Asian Society, praised that "Dai Bo has incredible composing talent, comparable with any great composer. He is proficient in history and philosophy, integrates the East and West, and convey the universe in his music.”

As a composer, his works have been be reviewed favourably，such as "Wojski's Horn Concerto

"（2015） commissioned by Mickiewicz University in Poland, the piano suite "Disappeared Landscapes" published by Cook Music/Kuke Music , "Prisoner's Womb" for flute quintet published by Dux commissioned by Poland , and the cello album"Gu JiaYe" published in collaboration with cellist Namula. His vocal suite"The Call of Dawn" was funded by China National Arts Fund for Young Artistic Talents. He was the only composer to create original music for the large ten-episode documentary "The Journey of Chinese Plants ". His latest works include the large-scale vocal suite"Wanli Changsha" and the violin concerto "Saudade", which premiered in September and December 2021, respectively.

As a performer, Dai Bo has been invited to give solo concerts and personal works concerts in New York, Morelia, Shanghai, and Beijing. He has also given solo piano/harpsichord concerts at the Beijing Forbidden City Concert Hall, the Palacio de Bellas Artes in Mexico City, and the Morelia City Hall, and has collaborated with many world-class performers in major music festivals and cultural events...?

Chang Ge is a Chinese composer and pianist currently based in the UK. She is interested in generating new translative compositional aesthetics and techniques through close engagement with various art forms, focusing on bridging gradual transitions and fostering a dialogue between auditory and visual experiences. Her work reflects her interest in transcultural, translinguistic, and transdisciplinary artistic knowledge, exploring how these elements intersect to create innovative and meaningful artistic expressions.

Her music has been performed internationally at venues that include the St. Petersburg International New Music Festival, the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre, the National Association of Composers USA National Conference, the Malaysia Huazong International Music Composition Competition, The Wrong Gallery and the College Chapel in King's College London, etc. Her work has been performed by King's College London Symphony Orchestra (Ephemera), the Moscow Contemporary Music Ensemble (A Letter), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Conservatory of Music (Chiaroscuro), Quatuor Bozzini (The Lighthouse), Lontano Ensemble (Verizon), Orchestra of the Swan and Thallein Ensemble (Whispers of the Unheard), and the Pavilion Ensemble (Camellia). Her recent work includes the solo piano piece Wandering (2024), premiered by pianist William Howard.

She is currently a PhD music composition student at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where she studies with Joe Cutler and Howard Skempton. She completed her Master’s degree with distinction at King’s College London under the supervision of Edward Nesbit. Her scores are published by Austria Universal Edition.

The music of Hong Kong composer Dr Chris Hung has first gained international recognition in 2010, with his work “Infinite Soundscape” premiered by International Contemporary Ensemble (USA) at the Darmstadt Summer Course in Germany.

His diverse oeuvre includes an array of about 70 works from instrumental solo to orchestral music, as well as audio-visual works and choral music.

Hung’s scores are published by Universal Edition (Austria), BabelScores (France) and Trübcher Music Editions (UK).

Over the past fifteen years, Dr Hung’s works have been performed and broadcasted throughout Europe, as well as USA and Asian countries in various leading festivals, such as Beijing Modern Music Festival (China), ISCM World Music Days (Slovenia), Sibelius 150th Anniversary Celebration (Finland), Music Biennale Zagreb (Croatia) etc.

He was composer-fellows in CoMA New Music Residency (UK), Singapore Chinese Orchestra Workshop and composer-in-residence of Nexus Ensemble.

ZOU Hang

ZOU Hang is an Associate Professor of the Central Conservatory of Music in China, Master’s Degree Advisor, Director of the Chinese Musicians Association and member of the Composition Committee of the Chinese National Orchestral Music Society.

ZOU Hang's works obtained many honors, including the 97’ International Gaudeamus Prize, the Best Composer Award in the 5th “Chinese Dance Lotus Award” competition, the 10th and 12th Anniversary of the “the Five one project Award” of the Central Propaganda Department, the 1st Chinese music “Golden Bell Award”, the first prize in the 1st Guangdong Province Arts Festival, the Excellent Work Award in the 6th Taiwan Province Symphony Orchestra Competition. His works have also been selected for the "National Art Fund" and the "Symphony of the Times - China's Symphonic Music Creation Support Programme" by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of China, and the "In Praise of the New Era" Exhibition of Original Outstanding Symphonic Works organized by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and the China Music Association, amongst other national projects.

His works was performed in more than 30 countries, including Europe, Americas, Asia and Oceania, including: New Zealand National Art Festival, Australia Auckland and Brisbane Music Festival, Beijing Modern Music Festival, China ASEAN Music Week and other international music festivals; as well as Berliner Philharmoniker Concert Hall in Germany, Kennedy Center Opera House in USA, Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in USA, Goldener Saal Wiener Musikvereins in Austria, UNESCO Hall in Paris, France, Jordan Hall in New England Conservatory in USA, National Centre for the Performance Arts Concert Hall of China and other famous music venues.

His works have been broadcasted by the New Zealand National Radio, Amsterdam National radio, China CCTV and other satellite channels. Some of his works have been collected by the internationally renowned Wergo Record Company of Germany, Naxos Records, People’s Music Publishing House of China and other record labels. He also worked on the music for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

Tang Jianping

Composer, a professor of composition at the Central Conservatory of Music, and the first Chinese composer to earn a doctoral degree in composition. Tang Jianping has won numerous awards, including the National Symphony Works Competition, the National Culture Award, the "Five-One" Project of the Central Propaganda Department, and the National Stage Art Excellent Creation Project. He has also been awarded the National Excellent Teacher Award, the National Teaching Achievement First Prize, and the Baogang Outstanding Teacher Special Award.

Tang Jianping's music works have been widely performed around the world.

In 2018, his opera "The 170 Days in Nanking/Die Tagebücher von John Rabe" was selected for the Original Creation Award of the 2018 International Opera Awards. He has also performed at the Berlin Opera House in Germany and the Vienna Ronacher Opera House.

His opera "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" was jointly performed by the National Grand Theater of China and the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and Moscow in October 2018. His opera "The 170 Days in Nanking/Die Tagebücher von John Rabe" has been performed in cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Nara, Lincoln Center in the United States, and Taiwan（China）. His opera "The Grand Canal" won the Grand Prize at the 2nd China Opera Festival.

His major works including: the operas "The 170 Days in Nanking/Die Tagebücher von John Rabe", "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", "The Grand Canal", "Songs of Youth", "Zheng He" and"Voyage To The East-A Fearless Buddhist Master’s Mission To Japan". He has also composed the dance dramas "Jingwei" and "Shaolin in the Wind"; The musicals "Clouds Over the Mountain" and "Love Warms the Tianshan Mountains"; The large-scale symphony "Shenzhou Harmony"; The epic Mongolian symphony "Genghis Khan"; The national orchestral symphonic poem "The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl" and "Yang Osang"; The cantatas "White Horse Enters the Reed Flowers" and "The Road". The pipa concerto "Spring and Autumn"；The symphonic concerto "Olympic Flame-2008"; The percussion concerto "Cangcai"; The dizi concerto "Feige"; The guqin concerto "Clouds and Water"；The guzheng concerto "Luoshen"；"the first piano concerto"；The national orchestral works "Houtu" and "Tianren"；The nonet "Xuanhuang," and the string quartet "Kuizhuo."

ZHOU Juan holds degrees from the Central Conservatory of Music (BA and MA) and University of Missouri - Kansas City (DMA), where her professors include Guo Wenjing, Zhou Long, jamesMobberley, Paul Rudy, and Chen Yi. Her major works include four orchestral works, three Chinese orchestral works, two chamber operas, incidental music for six Chinese operas and plays, four choral works, and many chamber works. With prolific works in scale and genre, she received two China National Arts Funds, two Golden Bell Awards, two National Music Composition Awards China National Centre for the Performing Arts Young Composer Programme Award, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, and GEDOK International Composition Competition*Fuch-Award" in Germany, among others. She received commissions from China National Centre for the Performing Arts, Korean Traditional Arts Foundation, Beijing People's Art Theatre.Chongging Peking Opera House, Chengdu Peking Opera Research Center, Adorno EnsembleNieuw Ensemble, Kansas City Chorale, Kansas City Electronic Music & Arts Alliance, Mizzou New Music Summer Festival, Virginia Arts Festival, Lepzig Bach Festival, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Arts, Festival Alte Musik Knechtsteden, Juilliard School Focus!2o18, Tiankong Choir, Shanghai International Arts Festival, Staunton Music Festival, and many others. She is professor in musiccomposition at the Central Conservatory and the first recipient of Edgar Snow Fellowship in music.

Julian Yu, who was born in Beijing on 2 September 1957, suprised his non-musical family by writing his first composition at the age of twelve. He went on to study composition at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and later joined the teaching staff there. From 1980 to 1982 he studied at the Tokyo College of Music under Joji Yuasa. In 1985 he settled in Australia. In 1988 Julian Yu was a composition fellow at Tanglewood, where he studied under Hans Werner Henze and Oliver Knussen.

Julian Yu has received more than twenty awards for composition since 1987, including the Koussevitzky Tanglewood Composition Prize as well as awards in competitions in Japan, Italy, France, the USA and his adopted Australia. In 1991 and 1994, respectively he won the inaugural and the subsequent Paul Lowin Award for orchestral composition with Hsiang-Wen (Filigree Clouds) and Three Symphonic Poems. There is no higher national award available to an Australian composer.

In October 1995 his Philopentatonia was given its world premiere by the London Sinfonietta at the South Bank, and this work was premiered in France in March 1996 by the Ensemble InterContemporain. Oliver Knussen, who also gave the US premiere of Wu-Yu, conducted the first performance in the UK of Great Ornamented Fuga Canonica. Wu-Yu was given its UK premiere by the BBC Welsh in January 1996 under the baton of George Benjamin. Yu's most recent work for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Sinfonia Passacaglissima, was given its world premiere in September 1995 by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

Julian Yu's music has been featured at international contemporary music festivals such as the Munich Bienniale, the ISCM World Music Days and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. While resident in China, he diversified by writing music for television, radio, films, dance and stage plays.

Dong Liqiang

Professor and Doctoral Advisor of the Composition Department at the Central Conservatory of Music

Dong Liqiang was born in 1963 in Qingdao, Shandong Province. In 1990 Dong Liqiang graduated early with honors from the Composition Department of the CCOM, after which he was invited to join the faculty staff of the department. From 1992 to 1997, he studied at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music under Professor Minami Hiroaki, and received his master’s degree in music composition. He afterwards returned to the CCOM to continue teaching in the Composition Department. From 2000 to 2006, he studied under the guidance of Professor Wu Zuqiang and received his doctoral degree in music composition.

Works composed by Dong Liqiang cover a wide range of genres and have been played both in China and abroad. These works include:

Orchestral works: Dream on the Maple River, A Spring Impression, Distance, Source, Threnody. 

Chamber music: Wind Through Pine Trees, for bass, xun and zheng; Overlapping, for oboe, clarinet and bassoon; Ode to the Sounds of Autumn, for flute and piano, Sparse Shadows for zhongruan and percussion, Fusion for flute, clarinet and viola.

Vocal songs: News of Paradise, a Loving Heart, Farewell to Childhood.

Chorus: A Night Visit to the Palace, A Phoenix Resting on a Chinese Parasol Tree, Our Dream Home.

Dance Music: The Sparks of the Jinggang Mountain.

Film and TV Drama Music: Out of Amazon, The Strong Mountain Pass, the Eighth Route Army, the Sky of the History, The Firmament of the Pleiades, the First of August, Home, A Solitary Regiment, Loyalty and Betrayal.  

The works of Dong Liqiang involve diverse themes and artistic styles, and reflect his distinctive voice and artistic character.

Man-Ching Donald Yu (余文正) (b.1980), Hong Kong born composer and pianist. His recent music is refined by the interweaving of post-minimalist and post-modernist traits; subtle transformation of various musical parameters in different suspended times and spaces is one of the important underlying principles in his recent works. Fanfare Magazine hails his music as "forming an arresting and personal intermixing of tonal and atonal languages, with the musical colors and gestures of his native country infiltrating the mix." (2012)

As a prolific composer, his nearly two hundred compositions encompass a spectrum from instrumental and vocal works to chamber opera, choral works, and symphonies. Globally recognized, his works have been showcased in more than 20 countries with 50 cities throughout the North and South America, Europe, and Asia, gracing stages at prominent venues and events such as the Musikverein (Wien), 2022 Contrasts International Contemporary Music Festival, the International Review of Composers (Serbia), the EurAsia International Music Festival (Yekaternburg Russia), the International Festival of Modern Art: Two Days and Two Nights of New Music, the International Kiev Music Fest, the International Spring Orchestra Festival (Malta), the 2015 Expo Milano (Italy), and many others; Esteemd ensembles like Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Gloria Chamber Choir, Lugansk Philharmonic, Chernivtsi Philharmonic, Uzhgorod Philharmonic with chorus, Opera Hong Kong Chorus with Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, Icarus Ensemble (Italy), Orlando Contemporary Music Orchestra have performed and recorded his pieces. His scores are exclusively published by Donemus (Netherland) and Universal Edition (Wien), other publishers include Babelscores (France), Edizioni Sconfinarte (Italy), Da Vinci Edition (Japan), etc; most of his recordings are exclusively available at Donemus Records, and other labels include Phasma Music, Ablaze, Albany and Zimbel Records as well as Association New Music (Ukraine), etc. Besides his compositional outputs, his theory papers were presented at various international music theory conferences in Serbia, Poland, and UK as well as published in scholarly book and music journals. As an academic staff, he has taught music theory, musicology, and composition in tertiary universities in Hong Kong since 2007. 

Yu received his early formal musical training at an early age and made his concerto debut at age 16, leading him to Baylor University to study piano performance with renowned pianist and artistic-in-residence Krassimira Jordan of the Russian piano school where he completed his Bachelor of Music. Afterwards in 2007, he studied composition with stipendium at the International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg with a diploma in Austria, and later in 2010, he earned a Ph.D. in composition and music theory with the support of a full postgraduate research assistantship at Hong Kong Baptist University. He also holds FTCL in composition, LRSM in piano as well as Super Soloist Performance Zertifikat in piano from Wiener Musik Prüfungskommission. Since 2007 he has been the recipients of various awards and honors from different organizations including Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship, "Muzyczne Orły" International Competition (Poland), Newly Published Music Competition (U.S.) and Classic Pure Vienna International Music Competition, Clouzine International Music Awards-Best Contemporary Classical Album, First Great Award of the 5th Vienna International Music Competition, etc. Notably, his orchestral piece "Unravelling" was awarded Gold Medal (Awards of Excellence) in two categories-Best Contemporary Classical and Composition of the 2022 Global Music Awards.

Born in 1995, Changsha, Hunan. Her work focuses on exploring the possibilities of using language as a musical instrument from a female perspective and multicultural background. She combines the tonal variations of the Hunan dialect with Western contemporary music to give language a new musical expression and reveal the subtle connections between culture, gender and nature. Through this cross-cultural fusion, She breaks traditional boundaries, explore how the unique expression of women through sound can be conveyed in the context of globalization, and promote innovation and exchange between culture and gender in contemporary music.

Her compositions have been performed and awarded worldwide, among others: 2016-2017 Young Composers Competition (USA), 13. Internationales Klang- und Orgelfest (Germany), ContemPLAY music festival (Lithuania), 30th International Young Composers Meeting 2024 (Netherlands), 10th Contrasti contemporary music festival (Italy), in Lv Contemperament Music Festival (UK), 14th Impuls international Ensemble and Composers Academy for Contemporary Music (Austrian), Mixtur Composition and Sound Experimentation Workshop (Spain), Donaueschingen International Festival of Contemporary Music (Germany), 1st Ise-Shima International Composition Competition (Japan), 31st Città di Barletta Young Musician International Competition (Italy), etc.

She also has collaborated with many world-renowned musicians including: Modern Ensemble (Moscow), Four Corners Ensemble (USA), Ligeti Quartet (UK), Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra (China), Shanghai Opera House (China), Suzhou Symphony Orchestra (China), Orkest De Ereprijs (Netherlands), Contrasti Ensemble(Italy) and many others.

Tian Tian has been studying music with his father since childhood. He studied composition at the Central Conservatory of Music for both his undergraduate and graduate degrees. In 2017, he graduated from the doctoral program under the guidance of the renowned composer Professor Qin Wenchen, and stayed on as a faculty member with excellent performance. Currently, He is an Associate Professor and Master's Supervisor in the Composition Department and Theory Research Office at the Central Conservatory of Music

His compositions cover various forms of music, including orchestral music, symphonic poems, chamber music, chamber operas, dance dramas, and traditional Chinese music. His works have a wide range of themes and are diverse. His works have been performed in many places at home and abroad, and have received strong responses from the music industry.

His work "Concerto for Orchestra" won the George Enescu International Competition for Symphonic Music in Romania in September 2016 after being strictly evaluated by a jury composed of seven top European composers, including Cornel Taranu, Adrian Iorgulescu, Dan Dediu, Zygmunt Krauze, Hubert Stuppner, Peter Ruzicka, and Tim Benjamin. This is the highest award a Chinese composer has won in this competition. The winning work was premiered by the Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra at the Athenaum Music Hall in Bucharest, Romania. He was also invited to participate in the International Young Composers Forum at the Enescu Festival in 2017. In September 2018, the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Company introduced and interviewed him, and broadcasted his string orchestra work "the Edge of the River" nationwide. In addition, in May 2013, after multiple evaluations by a jury chaired by the Finnish contemporary composer Kaija Saariaho, his symphonic poem "Ring on August" stood out from 35 works worldwide and won the Beijing Modern Music Festival Symphony Music Award (and "The 4th Young Composer Project") championship.

Hao Weiya

Born in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province 1971, Mr. Hao studied with renowned Chinese composition

Professor Zuqiang Wu and obtained his doctoral degree at the Central Conservatory of Music in

Beijing in 1999. Currently Mr. Hao is a professor at the Composition Department of the Central

conservatory of Music. Visiting scholar at the Conservatorio Santa Cecilia in Rome, Italy

（2006-07）and Columbia University in New York, U.S.）2014-15）

Orchestral compositions

1994 Orchestral painting ‘North of the Mountain, South of the Cloud’

1999 Cello Concerto ‘Ode to the Sea’

2002 Piece for the Chinese traditional orchestra ‘Legend II’, which was awarded the Second Prize at the Ninth National Competition for Traditional Orchestral Compositions)

2002 Piece for Orchestra and Choir ‘The Sky and the Earth—Taipo’, ‘Moon of Guan Mountain (text by Jingting Han, which was awarded the Golden Bell Prize by the Department of National Culture,

2004 Piano Concerto ‘Yangtze River’

2005 Symphony No. 1 ‘In Memoriam’

2009 Concerto for the Chinese Flute ‘Blossoming in the Spring’

2010 Orchestral Piece ‘Yellow River Fantasie’

2017 Concerto for the Chinese Sheng ‘The Path of Gladness’

2017 Concerto for the Chinese Erhu ‘Fountain of Tears’

Stage compositions

2004 ‘Love for the Nature’, music for Guizhou Acrobatic Team(awarded one of the ten outstanding artistic projects nationwide);

Motion Musical ‘Terracotta Warriors’, which was premiered in the United States and Canada in May 2004

2005 Musical ‘Mulan’

2005 Grandeur Artistic Dance Poem ‘Above the Horizon’, which was awarded ‘The Best Composition for Dance’, by the Fifth National ‘Lotus’ Award for the Excellence in Dance

2006 Ballet ‘Princess of Tang’ (Premiered in the United State); International Standard Dance Drama ‘Song for the Everlasting Regret’.

2008 Commissioned by the National Performance Theatre to re-write the unfinished ending for the Puccini opera ‘Turandot’.

2009 Commissioned by the National Performance Theatre to write an original opera ‘The Village Teacher’.

2013 Commissioned by Shanxi Provincial Theatre to write an original opera ‘The Legend of Patriot’.

2014 Commissioned by Shanghai International Arts Festival and Zhou Xiaoyan Opera Center to write an original opera ‘The River of Spring’.

2016 Commissioned by Chong Qing Theatre to write an original opera ‘Guanyin Hercules ’.

Other music

2000-2007 Music for the film ‘The Father’; TV drama ‘Long Spear in Hand’,

‘A Normal Life’, ‘A Lifetime of Undeserved Love’; ‘The Blooming Sunshine’, ‘Juzheng Zhang’, ‘My Beautiful Life’; Music for the China Tourism Year;

2008 Music for Beijing’s bid for 2008 Olympics(in collaboration with Lei Zhang); Music for the theatrical play ‘The Tea House’, ‘The Lobbyist’

2010 Music for the 2010 World Expo, Shanghai.

2013  Music for the film ‘Phurbu and Tenzin’

Guo Wenjing

Guo Wenjing is a professor of composition at the Central Conservatory of Music and was the head of the composition department for many years，has devoted himself to country's music education. He has been honored among the Top China Hundred Outstanding Artists. Guo Wenjing's operas are the most performed Chinese operas in the world in the most countries and also the most produced versions of Chinese operas.

Abroad, his works have been featured at festivals in Amsterdam, Berlin, Glasgow, Paris, Edinburgh, New York, Aspen, London, Turin, Perth, Huddersfield, Hong Kong and Warsaw, and at venues like Frankfurt Opera, the Berlin Konzerthaus, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and New York’s Lincoln Center.

He has written works for leading ensembles including the Holland Festival, Milan-Turin Art Festival, Festival d’Automne à Paris，the Nieuw Ensemble, Atlas Ensemble, Cincinnati Percussion Ensemble, Slagwerk Den Haag, Kronos Quartet, Arditti String Quartet, Ensemble Modern, and Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Göteborg Symphony Orchestra, Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks,China Philharmonic Orchestra, China NCPA Orchestra, Beijing SmphonyOrchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra and Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra. 

“Special Concerts of Guo Wenjing's Works” 

Performance Orchestra: the China Philharmonic Orchestra (twice), the Central Philharmonic Orchestra, Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Tianjin Symphony Orchestra (twice), the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra.

"Portrait of Guo Wenjing" Concert

Performances in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht, Turin, Paris, New York, Edinburgh, etc.

His works have been included in the concert tours of major orchestras in Europe and America.Include The China Philharmonic Orchestra, the China National Traditional Orchestra, and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra.

His works have been included in the official touring repertoire of world-renowned conductors and orchestras.

Including:

Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra,China Tour,Conductor: Neeme Jarvi (1999)

Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Five Cities Tour in China, Conductor: Fabio Luisi (2018)

Hong Kong Philharmonic,Shanghai,Conductor:Edo de Waart (2018)

Music Review

“Unparalleled musical beauty and dramatic power” (Le Monde)

“Pungent and vivid” (The Guardian)

“Uninhibited and pure” (Het Parool)

“Subtle and unusual” (Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung)

“A highly original sense of operatic possibility” (The Independent).

“The only Chinese composer who has never lived abroad but established an international reputation”( New York Times)

Zhao Xiaoxiang graduated from The Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China , majoring in Modern Electronic Music and Composition (Bachelor in 2013, Master in 2018). Advisor: Associate Professor Qian Qi. In 2019, his Chinese Folk-band-orchestral work "Mountain Song among Clouds" won the performance opportunity , Marimba solo " The Trace of Shadow" won the second prize in the 13th "Yanhuang Cup" percussion composition competition , the Violin solo "Flying with Clouds " won the 1st prize of The 2019 Lin Yao Ji International Competition For Solo Violin Compostition In Chinese Style. In 2020, his work "SA 飒 A Prayer (2020), For Bayan and Chamber Orchestra" won the second place of The PIF2020(Italy),category CLASSIC & ENSEMBLE COMPOSTTION FOR ACCORDION. Zhao became the first Asian winner of the classical composition section of the competition since its inception.

Chen Xinruo

 

Composer

Associate Professor

Head of Teaching and Researching at Central Conservatory of Music

 

Chen XinRuo, born in Wuhan, China. In 1996, he studies in composition with Prof. Luo Xinmin at the Central Conservatory of Music (CCOM) in Beijing; obtaining a Masters and Doctoral degree under the renowned Chinese contemporary composer Prof. Guo Wenjing, in 2004 and 2008

respectively. He has been engaged in teaching and research of composition and theory of harmony

at his alma mater since graduation. Chen Xinruo used to be the director of the Harmony Teaching

and Research Section of the Composition Department of CCOM, and is now the deputy discipline

director of the comprehensive theory of music.

In January 2018, his work “Concerto Grosso-for mixed chamber orchestra” premiered at the Lincoln Center in New York, USA. In May 2018, in the sixth session of Liu Tianhua’s Collection of Chamber Music works of Chinese Instruments, he won the first prize for his work "SeJuTeng". In October of the same year, his work "Yun Shao-for Orchestra" premiered at Carnegie Hall, USA. In 2019, two of his works, Erhu Concerto "Ink-Wash Painting by Strings" and Suona Concerto "Banished Immortal", were premiered by Shanghai Chinese Orchestra; In July 2021, National Centre for the Performing Arts commissioned Chen Xinruo to transcribe the Symphonic Suite for orchestra, the original of which was the soundtrack "The Flowers of War" composed by Chen Qigang.

Since 2007, Chen Xinruo has collaborated with the famous Chinese clarinetist Wang Tao to compose and record eight albums. Among them, the fourth album "Send You a Blue Gift for Winter" released in 2006 won the "Best Pop Instrumental Album" at the 18th Taiwan Golden Melody Awards; The album "Love Without Boundaries" released in 2013 won the "Best Composer of Pop Instrumental Album" in the 23rd Taiwan Golden Melody Awards. Works "Abbandono Tango", "Waltz in Summer Palace","Beauty", "Cuddling" composed by Chen Xinruo has become the repertoire of influential musicians in China, including Leiji Chen, Zhao XiaoXia and TO-MELODY Ensemble, and has been frequently performed in concerts all over China.

In 2014, the textbook "Keyboard Harmony and Improvisation" was compiled and published by

the Central Conservatory of Music Press in November 2016. The Beijing Municipal Education

Commission selected it as "Premium Courseware " in 2019.

Xu Dong has been passionate about music since childhood. In July 2015, he participated in the Beijing International Composition Workshop, where he delved into the performance techniques of both Chinese and Western instruments as well as contemporary composition methods. Currently, he is pursuing a master's degree in composition at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre under the guidance of Professor Helena Tulve.

Yifan Shao (b.2003) is a Chinese composer, vocal artist, visual artist, writer, and curator. His works explore intimacy and spatial perceptions through extremely phantasmatic gradations. He also seeks to maximize performative capabilities: he sings over 6 octaves with nearly synthesizer-level timbral control and handles up to 5 pitches simultaneously via a combination of multiphonic techniques, breathing unreachable beauties into his artistic world.

 

His works have received recognition in more than 10 countries, including but not limited to venues like Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Center for New Music, and Blank Wall Gallery; festivals like Sofia Symphonic Summit, CEME International New Music Festival, St. Petersburg International New Music Festival, Monteluce Music Festival, Getxophoto International Image Festival, and Nordingrå Konstrunda; and exposures like PhotoVogue, KPOO San Francisco, San Francisco Classical Voice, CultureNow Greece. Among his collaborators: Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra, Festino Chamber Choir, Mouthscape Choir, Corale di Monteluce, Moscow Soloists Contemporary Ensemble, conductor Jacques Desjardins, flautist Ania Karpowicz, violist Amelia Krinke, pianist Hao Wu, artist Alexandra Pink, producer Pontus Kraft, and so on.

 

He is the voice soloist of San Francisco Composers Chamber Orchestra in 2025, where he premieres new music by composers from different countries with other members. He is the founder and co-artistic director of Vocalverse, a new vocal music collective, and the co-founder and co-owner of Kooperativet Vännerstaskolan. His music scores are published by Universal Edition and J.W. Pepper.

 

He is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Music degree in composition at San Francisco Conservatory of Music under Elinor Armer. He also went to Odin Home Festival at Odin Teatret, Denmark in 2024 to study theatre and vocal performance, and received instructions from masters such as Eugenio Barba, Julia Varley, and Jan Ferslev.

 

HU Yinyue

Chinese composer Hu YinYue was born in Quzhou city of Zhejiang province. Since 1993, Hu YinYue has studied abroad in Japan, he has studied successively at Toho Gakuen School of Music which is one of the most renowned private conservatory in Japan, Tokyo Gakugei University (Master Degree 2001) and Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (Doctoral Degree 2004). During the time in Japan, Hu YinYue has studied with Japanese professionals who are best known of modern music composers worldwide, the professors including Maeta shoko (Pen name: Fuyuki Yoru), Mamiya Michio, Ichiyanagi Toshi, Yoshizaki kiyotomi, Kaneda Choji, Yamauchi Masahiro, Noda Teruyuki, and Matsushita Isao. In 2007, Hu YinYue received doctoral degree in composition area and continued his postdoctoral research at Central Conservatory of Music with Professor Guo Wen-Jing. Hu Yin Yue is currently on the staff (Professor) at Central Conservatory of Music Composition Department. In July 2018, the Chinese and Japanese composers’ inventional concert “Tian-yi-sheng-ren” was established by President of Japanese Association for Friendship with China Hirayama Ikuo and Hu YinYue. The concert is accepted as an important cultural project in Beijing’s Olympics 2008, and it was successfully hold at National Centre for Performing Arts of China. The contribution on the associate friendship between China and Japan has received encouragement and compliment. Hu YinYue has awarded in Japanese National Composing Competition, Creative Theatrical Art Rewards, and Japanese Nagoya Culture Prize, etc. In 2015, Hu YinYue composed a symphonic poem based on a well-known poet Ji-Di Ma-Jia’s epic poem “I, Snow Leopard…” Last but not least, his compositions are performed on a worldwide basis, including Japan, Germany, United States, and China (Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Taipei) 

Born in Dec.1989, Yiqing Zhu is a Chinese composer and pianist. He began composing in 2008 at Shanghai Conservatory of Music, after one year of Erasmus at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, he continued his study(Konzertexamen) at Stuttgart Musikhochschule under the guidance of Prof. Marco Stroppa. Currently, Zhu is the teacher of composition department at Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
His piece “DeepGrey”(for orchestra) won the First Price of Basel Composition Competition 2021. He is also the winner of Impuls competition(Graz) 2019, Dyce competition(Milan) 2019 and 3rd Prize winner of Singapore Chinese Orchestra competition 2011. From 2019 onwards, he was nominated for the Ernst Von Siemens Music Prize(composers’ prize). His works were played in various Music Festivals and Concerts.

Liu Yizhang, a composer who blends Chinese and Western musical traditions, has been acclaimed as “an accomplished composer” by the King’s Singers. His music exhibits “a strong sense of harmonic integrity supporting ostensibly frenetic writing” and has been described as “wildly inventive … rhythmically charged, and captivating” by the King's Singers and the Robert Avalon International Competition Committee, respectively.

Liu Yizhang currently holds the position of composer in residence with the Hunan National Orchestra, the council member of the Composition and Compositional Theory Academy of the Hunan Musicians’ Association, as well as the committee member of the Emerging Music Groups Academy of the Hunan Musicians’ Association. Previously, he served as the curator, executive producer, and main composer for One Seed Changes the World: The Original Traditional Music Concert Series in Beijing, Changsha, and Huaihua from 2021 to 2023, and Music Director for Eyes and Mind: China Contemporary Synesthesia Experimental Arts Exhibition in Shenzhen, China, in 2015. He also conducted the recording of Pear Blossom, featured in the 2020 Contemporary Chamber Work Volume 2 published by RMN Classical.

Liu Yizhang has thrived in settings where Western and Eastern cultures converge. His musical style melds traditional Chinese philosophies, poetry, and folk arts with contemporary Western compositional theories and techniques. His music is widely performed internationally, including in the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Brazil, and China. His music scores are published by Universal Edition. The recording of his piano work, Tempestuous Flow, was produced by RMN Music and added to the Sound and Music Archive of the British Library. Liu Yizhang has collaborated with renowned orchestras, ensembles, and artists, including the Brazilian National Orchestra, China National Traditional Orchestra, Hunan National Orchestra, JACK Quartet, Formalist Quartet, Laurent Estoppey, Charles Anthony Silvestri, Wang Fujian, Liu Sha, Yuan Feifan, and others.

Notable awards and honors received by Liu Yizhang include 2021 RMN Classical Call for Piano Works: Winning Prize, 2022 The ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Award: Honorable Mention, The King’s Singers New Music Prize: Honorable Mention, 2022 Golden Key Composition Competition Professional Category: Second Prize, 2022 MaestrosVision Award Professional Category Chamber Music: Second Prize, 2022 MaestrosVision Award Professional Category Solo Instrument Music: Second Prize, 2019 Lin Yao Ji International Competition for Solo Violin Composition in Chinese Style: Honorable Mention, among others. He has also been granted fellowships from organizations and institutions, including the Forum of the Creation and Development of Traditional Music in New Era by China Nationalities Orchestra Society and Zhejiang Conservatory of Music (2023), 2023 Hunan Music Season, the Asian Classical Music Initiative at University of Kansas (2022), Melody of Yangtze River: 2020 World Famous Music Institution Exchange Performance Season, Sao Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, International Music Festival of the Adriatic, soundSCAPE Music Festival, SoundScore Workshop, and others.

Liu Yizhang earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition and Master of Music in Composition from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory in 2022 and 2020 respectively. He obtained his Bachelor of Music in Composition from Oberlin Conservatory in 2018. His principal composition teachers have included Professors Stephen Hartke, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Lewis Nielson, Tom Lopez, Paul Rudy, Yotam Haber, Jesse Jones, Elizabeth Ogonek, Aaron Helgeson, and Du Yong.

Ji Yu, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Composition Department at the Central Conservatory of Music. Born in Qingdao, Shandong Province, he studied at the Affiliated Middle School of the China Conservatory of Music, Central Conservatory of Music, Royal Danish Academy of Music, and the University of Missouri-Kansas City, under the guidance of Shi Wanchun, Guo Wenjing, Niels Rosing-Schow, Chen Yi, and Guo Weiguo.

 

Ji Yu's compositions have been performed at major music festivals both domestically and internationally, including the Beijing International Composition Workshop, Beijing Modern Music Festival, Central Conservatory of Music Music Festival, PULSAR Music Festival at the Royal Danish Academy of Music and the Copenhagen Organ Music Festival. He has collaborated with performers, chamber ensembles, and symphony orchestras from China and abroad, such as the Central Conservatory of Music Symphony Orchestra, China National Traditional Orchestra, Danish Sønderborg Symphony Orchestra, Court-Circuit Ensemble (France), and Esbjerg Ensemble (Denmark).

 

At the Composition Department of the Central Conservatory of Music, Ji Yu teaches composition and professional orchestration courses. In 2021, he won the third prize in the 12th Beijing University Young Teachers' Basic Teaching Skills Competition. His professional orchestration course was rated as a high-quality undergraduate course in Beijing universities in 2022.

 

Ji Yu's translated books, Discovering Music Theory Volumes 4 and 5, were published by the People's Music Publishing House. His academic papers have also been published in domestic core journals.

ZHANG zhiliang he is the young teacher of Electronic Music Department in Sichuan Conservatory of Music. His works were selected to performed in many cities around the world, and also won prizes from competition at home and abroad. In 2019, he was a visiting scholar at Central Conservatory of Music and studied with Prof. Guo Wenjing. As a composer, Zhang Zhiliang’s music has been performed world-widely by notable ensembles and orchestras such as China NCPA Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra, China Film Symphony Orchestra, Music from China Orchestra of America, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Chengdu Modern Chamber Orchestra, and Nieuw Ensemble of Netherlands, Orchestra of Sichuan Conservatory of Music and others. His pieces of work have been published by Central Conservatory of Music Press, People’s Music Publishing House, Sikorski Music Publisher. His work was sponsored by the Young Art Creation Talent Fund Project of China National Arts F

Wen Ziyang was born in Chengdu in 1998 and is currently a graduate student in the Composition Department at the Central Conservatory of Music since the sixth grade of elementary school，he began to study Harmony lessons and composition lessons with Professor Huang Huwei in the Sichuan Conservatory of Music.And then he has been studying with Professor Chen Yonggang, Professor Jia Guoping, and Professor Qin Wenchen. He was admitted to the Composition Department of the Central Conservatory of Music in 2016 and ranking first in the the entrance examination. And with the highest score，he was recommended for graduate studies exempting exams in 2021. In addition, he has studied piano under Professor Li Xiumei for 12 years.

Wen Ziyang is a young composer who has received attention in recent years and has been described by Music Weekly as a "harvester of domestic and international awards." His music is based on Asian culture and achieves personalized expression in a global context. He has published two works and 14 pieces of music since the age of fourteen，which were selected in 40 music competitions and solicitations at home and abroad, including China National Arts Fund, the "Era Symphony" Works Exhibition and Evaluation (collaboration) of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the first prize of the Suzhou Jinji Lake International Composition Competition, the first prize of the German Weimar International Music Competitions , the first prize in both the orchestral and chamber opera groups of the "ArtinnoAward" International Composition Competition, the first prize of the Con Tempo International Composition Competition, the first prize of the Lin Yao Ji International Competition for Solo Violin Composition in Chinese Style, and the first prize of Chinese—ASEAN Music Festival International Composition Competition, and has repeatedly become the youngest winner. In addition, his poetry and articles have been published in People's Music and other publications. He has successfully collaborated with over 20 professional orchestras for world premieres and his works have been performed in 13 countries, including the United States, Russia, Germany, Austria, and Japan, and in dozens of cities across China. The venue of the performance includes the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation's Radio Symphony Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center in New York, and China National Grand Theatre and other well-known music halls.