Zhou Long facts for kids
Zhou Long (born July 8, 1953) is a famous Chinese American composer. He won a very important award, the Pulitzer Prize for Music, in 2011.
Biography
Zhou Long was born in Beijing, China. He came from a family of artists. He started learning to play the piano when he was very young.
During a time called the Cultural Revolution, there were strict rules about art. Because of this, he had to stop his piano lessons. He lived on a farm run by the government and drove a tractor. The empty land with strong winds and fires he saw during this time made a big impact on him. These experiences still influence his music today.
As the Cultural Revolution was ending, Zhou Long could start his music studies again. He learned about composing, music theory, conducting, and traditional Chinese music. In 1977, one year after the Cultural Revolution ended, he was chosen to study at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. He was one of only 100 students picked from 18,000 people! From 1977 to 1983, he studied composing with Su Xia.
After finishing his studies in 1983, Zhou Long became a composer for the National Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra of China. He did not stay in this job for long. He moved to the United States with a special scholarship to study at Columbia University. There, he continued his composing studies with Chou Wen-chung, Mario Davidovsky, and George Edwards. He earned a high degree in music in 1993.
Zhou Long lived in Brooklyn, New York. He became the music director of Music From China. This group started in 1984 to perform traditional Chinese music in the United States. Under Zhou Long's leadership, Music From China also began to perform new Chinese music. This new music mixed both Chinese and Western sounds and styles.
In 2002, Zhou Long was a special composer for the Music Alive! festival. This was part of the Silk Road Project with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma. Today, he is a special professor of composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music. From 2004 to 2005, he was a composer-in-residence at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has also given many lessons and talks at other top music schools. Zhou Long has worked with other artists too, like dancers and writers.
In 1999, Zhou Long received an award from ASCAP. He won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music for his opera, Madame White Snake. An opera is a play where most of the words are sung. This opera was first performed on February 26, 2010, by the Opera Boston. Zhou Long became a citizen of the United States in 1999. He is married to another composer and violinist, Chen Yi.
In July 2017, the National Youth Orchestra of China performed Zhou Long's piece "The Rhyme of Taigu." Ludovic Morlot conducted the orchestra. The concert at Carnegie Hall was completely sold out.
Musical style
Zhou Long is one of several Chinese composers who studied music right after the Cultural Revolution. Other composers include Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, and Chen Yi. After their studies in China, they all came to the United States. They wanted to learn more and mix parts of their old and new music cultures.
Zhou Long sees himself as both a Chinese and an American composer. He uses ideas from both music worlds to create new and interesting sounds. When he came to the United States, the different music culture helped him explore his feelings. It also helped him learn new ways to compose music and find his own musical voice.
He says, "I have been composing music seriously to achieve my goal of improving the understanding between peoples from various backgrounds. My ideas often come from ancient Chinese poetry." This means Zhou Long uses sounds and traditions from two different cultures. He also uses modern tools and technology. He explains, "Poems can give you the basic idea. The way Chinese calligraphy moves can give you the rhythm. An old ink painting can give you space and layers of sound. Different sounds can give you the color. Finally, your skill helps you express yourself fully."
Zhou Long tries to capture Chinese sounds (called timbres) and folk themes. He then combines them with Western ideas of harmony (how notes sound together), chromaticism (using all the notes), and sharp, angular melodies. He often takes sounds and tunes that people know. Then, he changes them using sounds that clash a little (called dissonances) and new twists on the main tune.
See also
In Spanish: Zhou Long para niños
