Sansan Chien (; 1 July 1967 – 24 October 2011) was a composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is classical music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 modern forms of post-tonal music after the death of Anton Webern, and included seria ...

. Chien was well known in Taiwan for her teaching of music theory and composition.

Life and career

She was born 1 July 1967 in

Changhua Changhua (Hokkien POJ: ''Chiong-hòa'' or ''Chiang-hòa''), officially known as Changhua City, is a county-administered city and the county seat of Changhua County in Taiwan Province of the Republic of China. For many centuries the site was h ...

, Taiwan, and grew up in the

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: ''Tʻai²-chung¹'', pinyin: ''Táizhōng''), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality located in central Taiwan. Taichung has approximately 2.8 million residents and is the second most populous city of Taiw ...

area. When she was fifteen, her family moved to the United States, settling in Sylvania, Ohio where she completed her high school education. She then earned a bachelor of music degree in piano performance from The

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a public research university in Toledo, Ohio. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, which includes the University of T ...

Department of Music (1989), a master's degree in music composition from the

Ohio University Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...

School of Music (1991), and a doctor of music degree in music composition from the Jacobs School of Music at

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

(1997). During the time of her studies at Indiana University she became a naturalized US citizen, but opted to retain her ROC (Taiwan) citizenship as well. Dr. Chien was a full-time assistant professor of music theory and composition at the

National Kaohsiung Normal University The National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU; Kaohsiung Normal University),The name of the university is translated using Chinese word order. By English grammar rules, it is National Normal University of Kaohsiung. founded in 1967, is a public ...

Department of Music from 1997 to 2011. Previously, she was a part-time instructor of music composition at The University of Indianapolis and an associate instructor of music composition and related courses at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

Jacobs School of Music. She was much appreciated by the many students she taught, especially those at National Kaohsiung Normal University. She was also instrumental in helping to organize the music curriculum at NKNU and dramatically improved the level of music theory and music composition instruction there. Together with her husband, Paul San Gregory, a composer and professor of music, they created an intense and encouraging learning environment that has benefited many NKNU graduates. For many years they also created and directed the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble at NKNU, which was the only university-run new music ensemble in Taiwan at the time.

Death

Sansan Chien died at the age of 44 on Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, in Chang Geng Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, following a difficult struggle with cancer.Bellevue Gazette obituary for Sansan Chien posted by Sally Boyd on October 28, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chien, Sansan 1967 births 2011 deaths Taiwanese classical composers Taiwanese women classical composers People from Changhua County Ohio University alumni University of Toledo alumni Indiana University faculty University of Indianapolis faculty Jacobs School of Music alumni Taiwanese emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States American women classical composers American classical composers American women academics 21st-century American women