Composers
Tan Dun
© Nan Watanabe
Born: 1957
The conceptual and multifaceted composer/conductor Tan Dun has made an indelible mark on the world's music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical, multimedia, Eastern and Western musical systems. A winner of today's most prestigious honors — the Grawemeyer Award for classical composition, Grammy Award, Academy Award, and Musical America's "Composer of The Year" — Tan Dun's music has been played throughout the world by the leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on radio and television. His latest work, Zheng Concerto, was premiered by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic at the Tonsättarfestival on November 8, 2007. His next commission is a concerto for piano which is scheduled to premiere in April 2008 by the New York Philharmonic.
As a conductor whose primary interest is in creating programs that reach a new and diverse audience and which break the boundaries between classical and non-classical, East and West, avant-garde and indigenous art forms, Tan Dun has led many of the world's leading orchestras. Among them are the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, National Orchestra de France, Philadelphia Orchestra, BBC Symphony, Montreal Symphony, NHK Symphony of Japan, National Orchestra de Lyon, Sydney Symphony, and London Sinfonietta.
Central to his body of work, Tan Dun has composed distinct series of works which reflect his individual compositional concepts and personal ideas. Among them are the Orchestral Theatre Series, bringing his childhood memories of shamanistic ritual into symphonic performances, from which The Gate: Orchestral Theatre IV was premiered by the NHK Symphony, conducted by Charles Dutoit. Organic Music consists of works which incorporate elements from the natural world, such as the Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra, commissioned and premiered by the New York Philharmonic with Kurt Masur, and the Paper Concerto for Paper Instruments and Orchestra for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Esa-Pekka Salonen for the openings of the Walt Disney Concert Hall in October 2003. Concerto Multimedia included the symbolic work The Map: Concerto for Cello, Video and Orchestra, which was premiered by the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Yo-Yo Ma with the composer conducting.
Opera has played a significant role in Tan Dun's creative output of the past decade. The First Emperor was premiered by the Metropolitan Opera in December 2006 with a title role created for Plácido Domingo. As a result of its success, it will return to the Metropolitan Opera this season. Marco Polo, set to a libretto by Paul Griffiths, has been performed in more than 20 cities worldwide. Peony Pavilion, on a text by Tang Xianzu (1598), and directed by Peter Sellars, had more than 50 performances at major festivals in Vienna, Paris, London and Rome. Tea: A Mirror of the Soul, set to a libretto by Xu Ying and encompassing music of ceramic, stone and paper instruments with orchestra, premiered at Japan's Suntory Hall and the Netherlands Opera with Pierre Audi directing, and received a new production at the Santa Fe Opera in July 2007. Other major and influential works are: Water Passion after St. Matthew, for the Internationale Bachakadamie in Stuttgart, commemorating the 250th anniversary of Bach's death; Eight Memories in Watercolor, performed internationally by pianist Lang Lang; the Oscar Award-winning original score for Ang Lee's film, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"; and Ghost Opera, toured worldwide by the Kronos Quartet.
Based in New York, Tan Dun was born in Simao, China. Having served as a rice-planter and performer of Peking opera during the Cultural Revolution, he later studied at Beijing's Central Conservatory. He holds a doctoral degree in musical arts from Columbia University of New York. Among the many international honors he has received, Tan Dun was elected by Toru Takemitsu for the Glenn Gould Prize in Music Communication, and by Hans Werner Henze for the Munich International Music Theatre Award.
Tan Dun records for Sony Classical and Deutsche Grammophon. His recordings have received many honors,
including a Grammy Award ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), Best CD of Contemporary Music of
Japan's Recording Academy Awards (Water Passion after St. Matthew) and the BBC's
Best Orchestral Album (Death and Fire). Tan Dun's manuscript of The Map was
acquired by Carnegie Hall for its Composers Gallery in New York.
Tan Dun's music is published by G. Schirmer, Inc. His conducting engagements are managed by Columbia Artist Management, Inc.
— December 2007
External Websites
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