Lei Liang (born November 28, 1972, in

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...

, China) is a Chinese-born American composer who was a winner of the

Grawemeyer Award The Grawemeyer Awards () are five awards given annually by the University of Louisville. The prizes are presented to individuals in the fields of education, ideas improving world order, music composition, religion, and psychology. The religion awa ...

and a Finalist for the

Pulitzer Prize in Music The Pulitzer Prize for Music is one of seven Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually in Letters, Drama, and Music. It was first given in 1943. Joseph Pulitzer arranged for a music scholarship to be awarded each year, and this was eventually converted i ...

. He is Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of Music at the

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

Early life and education

Liang is the son of musicologists Liang Mao-chun (b. 1940) and Cai Liang-yu (b. 1940) and studied piano as a child."Bio: Lei Liang"
''The Living Composers Project'' website He started composing at age six. His works written before he was thirteen are widely used for piano pedagogy and included among the required repertoire for national piano competitions in China. Liang came to the United States in 1990 for further studies, receiving BM and MM degrees from the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...

, both with academic honors and distinction in performance, and a Junior Fellowship and Ph.D. from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

Liang was the winner of the 2011

Rome Prize The Rome Prize is awarded by the American Academy in Rome, in Rome, Italy. Approximately thirty scholars and artists are selected each year to receive a study fellowship at the academy. Prizes have been awarded annually since 1921, with a hiatus ...

and the recipient of a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the ar ...

, an Aaron Copland Award, a

Koussevitzky Foundation Sergei Alexandrovich KoussevitzkyKoussevitzky's original Russian forename is usually transliterated into English as either "Sergei" or "Sergey"; however, he himself adopted the French spelling " Serge", using it in his signature. (SeThe Koussevi ...

Commission, a

Creative Capital Creative Capital is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in New York City that supports artists across the United States through funding, counsel, gatherings, and career development services. Since its founding in 1999, Creative Capital has commi ...

Award, and the Goddard Lieberson Fellowship from the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, music, and art. Its fixed number membership is elected for lifetime appointments. Its headqu ...

. His concerto ''Xiaoxiang'' (for alto saxophone and orchestra) was named a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Music. His orchestral work, '' A Thousand Mountains, A Million Streams'', won the 2021

for Music Composition. Lei Liang was commissioned by the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

and its music director Alan Gilbert for the inaugural concert of the CONTACT! new music series. He studied composition at

, where he received both a BM and a MM and then took his PhD at

as a recipient of

The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans, founded by Paul Soros and Daisy Soros in 1997, is a United States postgraduate fellowship for immigrants and children of immigrants. In 2021, the Fellowship received 2,445 applications and aw ...

. During this time, his teachers included a number of notable composers, including

Sir Harrison Birtwistle Sir Harrison Birtwistle (15 July 1934 – 18 April 2022) was an English composer of contemporary classical music best known for his operas, often based on mythological subjects. Among his List of compositions by Harrison Birtwistle, many compo ...

, Robert Cogan,

Chaya Czernowin Chaya Czernowin (Hebrew: חיה צ'רנובין, ; born December 7, 1957) is an Israeli American composer, and Walter Bigelow Rosen Professor of Music at Harvard University. She is the lead composer at the Schloß Solitude Sommerakademie, a biannu ...

, and

Mario Davidovsky Mario Davidovsky (March 4, 1934 – August 23, 2019) was an Argentine-American composer. Born in Argentina, he emigrated in 1960 to the United States, where he lived for the remainder of his life. He is best known for his series of compositions ca ...

. In interviews and his own writings, Lei Liang credits Harvard ethnomusicologist

Rulan Chao Pian Rulan Chao Pian (), née Rulan Chao (April 20, 1922 November 30, 2013)

as his most important mentor and personal influence. Liang's ten portrait discs are recorded on

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

Bridge Records Bridge Records is an independent record label that specializes in classical music located in New Rochelle, New York. History A classical guitarist, David Starobin recorded the Boccherini Guitar Quintet in E minor in the 1970s. This was his first ...

Mode Records Mode Records is an American record label in New York City that concentrates on contemporary classical music and other forms of avant-garde music. The label was founded by Brian Brandt in 1984, with a goal of releasing music composed by John Cage ...

, BMOP/sound,

Albany Records Albany Records is a record label that concentrates on unconventional contemporary classical music by American composers and musicians. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987 and is based in Albany, New York. See also * List of record la ...

and

New World Records New World Records is a record label that was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to celebrate America's bicentennial (1976) by producing a 100-LP anthology, with American music from many genres.Innova,

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

and GM Records. As a scholar and conservationist of cultural traditions, he edited and co-edited five books and editions, and published more than thirty articles. In 2020, Shanghai Conservatory of Music Press published a biography of Lei Liang, with essays by composers, musicologists, ethnomusicologists, performers, music critics, literary scholars, poets, and scientists. The book was edited by Prof. Qin Luo of Shanghai Conservatory. From 2013 to 2016, Liang served as composer-in-residence at the

California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology The California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology (Calit2, previously Cal(IT)2), also referred to as the Qualcomm Institute (QI) at its San Diego branch, is a $400 million academic research institution jointly run by the ...

where his multimedia works preserve and reimagine cultural heritage through combining scientific research and advanced technology. In 2018, Liang returned to the institute as its inaugural research artist-in-residence. In 2023, the Institute launched "Lei Lab" where he continues to collaborate with engineers, geologists, oceanographers and software developers, to explore what he calls "the unique potential for learning offered by creative listening." Lei Liang's recent works address issues of sex trafficking across the US-Mexican border (chamber opera "Cuatro Corridos"), America's complex relationship with gun and violence (chamber opera "Inheritance"), and environmental awareness through the sonificiation of coral reefs. Liang served as honorary professor of composition and sound design at

Wuhan Conservatory of Music Wuhan Conservatory of Music is a musical institution of higher learning located in Wuhan City, Hubei Province whose origins can be traced back to 1920 and the Wuchang College of Art located in the Hunan and Hubei College site.Wuhan Conservatory of Music
– website as distinguished visiting professor at the

Shaanxi Normal University Shaanxi Normal University (SNNU) () is a university in Xi'an, China. It was included in the 211 Project in 2006 and started its high-speed development. It is a Chinese state Double First Class University Plan university, identified by the Min ...

College of Arts in

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

and

Tianjin Conservatory of Music The Tianjin Conservatory of Music () is a university in Tianjin, China, under the municipal government. It was founded in 1958 as one of nine conservatories of music in China. Notable alumni * Shi Guangnan, composer (1940-1990) * Jie Ma, pipa ...

, and as visiting assistant professor of music at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalists, Middlebury was the first operating college or university in Vermont. The college currently enrolls 2,858 undergraduates from all ...

. Since 2009, he has taught at the

where he served as chair of the composition area, acting chair of the music department, as well as the chair of the campus-wide committee on committees. Liang was appointed Chancellor's Distinguished Professor of Music in 2020. In 2018, Lei Liang was appointed chair of the academic advisory board and artist director of the Chou Wen-chung Music Research Center at the

Xinghai Conservatory of Music Xinghai may refer to: * The semilegendary "Sea of Stars" () traditionally considered the source of China's Yellow River *Xinghai County, in Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai, China * Xinghai Conservatory of Music, in Guangzhou, Guangdon ...

in Guangzhou, China. The center was named after the influential Chinese-American composer

Chou Wen-chung Chou Wen-chung (; July 28, 1923 – October 25, 2019) was a Chinese American composer of contemporary classical music. He emigrated in 1946 to the United States and received his music training at the New England Conservatory and Columbia Univers ...

. Liang's catalogue of more than a hundred works is published by

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...

. He lives in San Diego with his son Albert.

References

External links

Faculty Profile, UCSD

Lei Liang website

Lei Liang from the Schott Music site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Liang, Lei Chinese classical composers American classical musicians of Chinese descent Chinese male classical composers University of California, San Diego faculty 1972 births Living people 21st-century classical composers Musicians from Tianjin Educators from Tianjin Harvard University alumni 21st-century American composers American classical composers American male classical composers New England Conservatory alumni 21st-century American male musicians Paul & Daisy Soros Fellows