Chen Yi (composer) facts for kids

Chen Yi (simplified Chinese: 陈怡; traditional Chinese: 陳怡; pinyin: Chén Yí) (born April 4, 1953) is a Chinese-American composer of contemporary classical music and violinist. She was the first Chinese woman to receive a Master of Arts (M.A.) in music composition from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Chen was a finalist for the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her composition Si Ji (Four Seasons), and has received awards from the Koussevistky Music Foundation and American Academy of Arts and Letters (Lieberson Award), as well as fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2010, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from The New School and in 2012, she was awarded the Brock Commission from the American Choral Directors Association. She was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 2019.

Early life

Chen Yi and her siblings began studying classical music at age three as their parents were lovers of the genre. She began learning on piano and at age four was introduced to violin. She memorized works by classical composers like Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky and was able to sing their compositions note for note.

During the Cultural Revolution, Chen and her siblings were taken to a work camp in the countryside. She continued to play violin, but was only allowed to perform "revolutionary songs". At age 17, she became concertmaster of the Peking Opera in Beijing. In 1978, Chen was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music where she received a bachelor's and master's degree. In addition, she spent summers studying Chinese folk music and considers this research to be an important part of her musical development.

Career

Chen lived in New York City for many years and studied composition at Columbia University, earning a DMA with distinction. Her teachers included Wu Zu-qiang in Beijing as well as Chou Wen-chung and Mario Davidovsky in New York. Since 1998, Chen has been the Lorena Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. Previously, she was on faculty at the Peabody Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. She is married to composer Zhou Long, a fellow alumnus of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and fellow professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Alongside a great number of orchestral works, Chen has also made many contributions to the choral repertoire and the chamber music repertoire, including works written for traditional Chinese instruments. Chen's works are published by the Theodore Presser Company.

Works

Solo

Chamber ensemble (2 performers)

Chamber ensemble (3 or more performers)

Vocal/Choral

Chorus and ensemble

• Chinese Myths Cantata
• Early Spring, for mixed choir and chamber ensemble
• From the Path of Beauty, for mixed choir and string quartet
• KC Capriccio, for wind ensemble and mixed chorus
• A Set of Chinese Folk Songs, for children's SA(T) chorus and strings
• Tang Poems Cantata, for SATB chorus and chamber orchestra

Orchestra

Orchestra with soloist(s)

Band/Wind ensemble

• Ba Yin (The Eight Sounds), for saxophone quartet and wind ensemble
• Dragon Rhyme, for symphonic band
• Spring Festival, for symphonic band
• Suite From China West, for wind ensemble
• Tu, for wind ensemble
• Wind, for wind ensemble

See also

In Spanish: Chen Yi (compositora) para niños

• Down to the Countryside Movement