Betty Ann Wong facts for kids

Betty Ann Wong (born September 6, 1938) is an American author, composer, and musician. She creates music using many different art forms and technologies. In 1988, she won the Hollywood Dramalogue Critics Award for her amazing original music for the play Marco Millions. She has also written music for movies made by Academy Award-winning producers Allie Light and Irving Saraf.

Early Life and Music Training

Betty Ann Wong grew up in San Francisco. She and her twin sister, Shirley, spoke both Cantonese and English at home. Betty Ann started learning piano when she was seven years old. She had great teachers like Eva Chan and Lev Shorr.

She went to Mills College and earned a degree in music in 1960. There, she learned from famous musicians like Morton Subotnick. She also played with a women's art group called Hysteresis. Later, in 1971, she earned a master's degree in music from the University of California (San Diego). She studied how to compose music with teachers like Pauline Oliveros. Betty Ann also learned about traditional Chinese music.

Music Career

Besides the piano, Betty Ann Wong plays many interesting instruments. These include the sitar (from India), the guzheng (a Chinese harp), and the saz (a Turkish lute). She has taught piano at the San Francisco Music Conservatory. She also taught arts and crafts and Chinese music workshops. She and her sister Shirley started teaching Chinese music together in 1973.

Betty Ann and Shirley also manage and perform with the Flowing Stream Ensemble. This group plays sizhu, which is traditional Chinese "silk and bamboo" music. They started this ensemble in 1973.

In 1974, Betty Ann visited New Delhi, India, and became very interested in Hindustani music (Indian classical music). When she returned to California, she learned more about it. In 1977, she started her own group called the Phoenix Spring Ensemble. This group mixes different styles of music. It combines European classical music, American jazz, and traditional Chinese music.

Betty Ann Wong has written music for movies that won Academy Awards. She also won the Hollywood Dramalogue Critics Award in 1988 for her music in the play Marco Millions. Since 1990, she has directed the Pursuit of Excellence Concert Series. She is also a board member of the Junior Bach Society.

Works

Betty Ann Wong has created many different kinds of musical works:

Books

• The Magic of Chinese Music (1975)
• "Possible Music for a Silent World" (an essay in a book called Break Glass in Case of Fire; 1978)

CDs

• Desert Dreams of Light
• In Xinjiang Time (with the Phoenix Spring Ensemble and Melody of China Ensemble; 2004)

DVDs

• Silk Road Experience

Electronic Music

• Check One: People Control the Environment, People are Controlled by the Environment (tape recording; 1970)
• Submerged, Still Capable (tape recording; 1969)

Multimedia Works

• All Sound is Music When You Let it Flow
• Dear Friends of Music, This is Your Piece as well as Mine (involved the audience; 1971)
• Furniture Music or Two-Way Stretch on a Swivel Chair (tape and visuals; 1971)
• Mad Tea Party (film and tape)
• Private Audience with Pope Pius XII (tape and slides; 1971)
• Quiet Places in the Environment (tape, 9 performers, and audience participation; 1971)
• Riding on to Glory (film and tape)

Orchestra Music

• Dream of the Desert (2000)

Theatre Music

• Music for the Good Citizen (music for a play by Bertolt Brecht)
• Village, Interracial, Big Wheels (tape)