Composers
Tan Dun
© Nana Watanabe
Born: 1957
Brief Biography: 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. 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 a series which brings his childhood memories of shamanistic ritual into symphonic performances; works which incorporate elements from the natural world; and multimedia concerti. Opera has a significant role in Tan Dun's creative output of the past decade, mostly recently with the premiere of The First Emperor by the Metropolitan Opera in December 2006 with a title role created for Plácido Domingo. In 2008, Tan composed Internet Symphony No. 1: "Eroica" commissioned by Google/YouTube as the focal point for the world’s first collaborative online orchestra. Recent works include Piano Concerto: The Fire for Lang Lang and the New York Philharmonic; Violin Concerto: The Love, for soloist Cho-Liang Lin, and Earth Concerto for Ceramic Percussion and Orchestra. Of his many works for film, Tan Dun’s score for Ang Lee's film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, received an Oscar Award for best original score. His music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer, Inc. For a complete biography, click here.
Key Works: - Ghost Opera
(1994; pip, string quartet) - Marco Polo
(1995; opera) - Symphony 1977: Heaven, Earth, Mankind
(1997;cello, bianzhong bells, children's chorus, orchestra) - Water Passion after St. Matthew
(2000; soloists, choir, ensemble, sampler) - Tea: A Mirror of Soul
(2002; opera) - The Map: Concerto for Cello, Video and Orchestra
(2002; cello, orchestra) - The First Emperor
(2006; opera) - Piano Concerto: The Fire
(2008; piano, orchestra)
| Career Highlights: - 1996 Recipient of the Glenn Gould International Protégé Prize in Music
- 1997 Symphony 1997: Heaven, Earth, Manking commemorates the official handover of Hong Kong by UK to China
- 2000 Academy and Grammy Awards for score to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
- 2003 Performance of The Map in rural Hunan brought the first Western music concerto to thousands of local villagers
- 2003 Premiere of Paper Concerto at the opening of Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles
- 2006 The First Emperor premiered by the Metropolitan Opera
- 2008 Selected to compose official ceremonial music for the Beijing Olympic Games and Paralympic Games
- 2010 Collaborated with producer Quincy Jones on the theme song and appointed as Cultural Ambassador for World Expo 2010 in Shanghai
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Critical Acclaim:
Theatrical [and] ritualistic, Tan Dun’s music sculpts sound and transforms everything into a riveting experience that is hard to define but very easy to appreciate.
— The Los Angeles Times
[In Tea] Tan unfolds his music in a dynamic and spatial manner, first slow and aesthetic, then strongly and urgently, all the while keeping the grace of the music in overall balance. He is especially successful in moving the spectator by always breaking the pattern of what the listener expects to happen.
— The Tokyo Journal
...stylistically assured...the real McCoy.
— The Glasgow Herald
Full Biography
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 music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions. A winner of today's most prestigious honors including the Grammy Award, Oscar/Academy Award, Grawemeyer Award for classical composition and Musical America's Composer of The Year, Tan Dun's music has been played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on the radio and television. As a composer/conductor, Tan Dun has led the world's most renowned orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Berliner Philharmoniker, Philadelphia Orchestra, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Filharmonica della Scala, Münchner Philharmoniker and the Santa Cecilia Orchestra, among others. Most recently, Tan Dun served as “Cultural Ambassador to the World” for World EXPO 2010 Shanghai.
Tan Dun’s individual voice has been heard by wide audiences. His first Internet Symphony, which was commissioned by Google/YouTube, has reached over 15 million people online. His Organic Music Trilogy of Water, Paper and Ceramic Concerti has frequented major concert halls and festivals. Paper Concerto was premiered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the opening of the Walt Disney Hall. His multimedia work, The Map, premiered by Yo Yo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has toured more than 30 countries worldwide. Its manuscript has been included in the Carnegie Hall Composers Gallery. His Orchestral Theatre: The Gate was premiered by Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra and crosses the cultural boundaries of Peking Opera, Western Opera and puppet theatre traditions. Other important recent premieres include Four Secret Roads of Marco Polo for the Berlin Philharmonic and Piano Concerto “The Fire” for Lang Lang and the New York Philharmonic. Tan Dun was commissioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to write the Logo Music and Award Ceremony Music for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Current projects include a new percussion concerto for soloist Martin Grubinger and a harp concerto inspired by the secret Nushu calligraphy of Tan Dun’s home province of Hunan, China.
For Tan Dun the marriage of composition and inspiration has always culminated in his operatic creations, Marco Polo was commissioned by the Edinburgh Festival and has had four different productions including, most prominently, with De Nederlandse Opera directed by Pierre Audi; The First Emperor with Placido Domingo in the title role, commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera of New York; Tea: A Mirror of Soul, premiered at Japan’s Suntory Hall, has since had new productions with Opera de Lyon, a co-production by Santa Fe Opera and The Opera Company of Philadelphia; and Peony Pavilion, directed by Peter Sellars which has had over 50 performances at major festivals in Vienna, Paris, London and Rome.
Tan Dun records for, Sony Classical, Deutsche Grammophon, Naxos, EMI and Opus Arte. His recordings have garnered many accolades, including a Grammy Award (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and nomination (The First Emperor; Marco Polo), Japan's Recording Academy Awards for Best Contemporary Music CD (Water Passion after St. Matthew) and the BBC's Best Orchestral Album (Death and Fire).
Tan Dun’s music is published exclusively by G. Schirmer. Inc.
— November 2011
For more information on Tan Dun, please visit www.tandunonline.com and www.youtube.com/tandun. For specific inquiries about this composer, please contact Peggy Monastra at peggy.monastra(at)schirmer.com or (212) 254-2100 ext. 130.
External Websites
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