Qigang Chen (; ; born 8 August 1951) is a Chinese-French composer who has lived in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

since 1984 and obtained French citizenship in 1992.

Biography

Coming from an intellectual family, Qigang Chen was born in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Chinese, Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four Direct-administered municipalities of China, direct-administered municipalities of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the ...

and began his musical studies as a child. In his early teens, he was confronted with the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goa ...

and would spend three years locked up in a barracks, undergoing an "ideological reeducation". Nonetheless, his passion for music remained unshakeable and, in spite of the social pressure and anti-cultural policy, he pursued his training in composition. In 1977, Chen was one of 26 candidates out of 2,000 to be accepted into the composition class at the Beijing Central Conservatory. After five years of studies with Luo Zhongrong, in 1983 he stood for the national competition where he came first. As a result, he was the only one in his field to be authorized to go abroad to pursue graduate studies in composition. He was

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithology, ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th-century classical music, 20th century. His m ...

's last student and lived with him as well, from 1984 to 1988. His first five years in France allowed him to broaden the scope of his culture and acquire new knowledge about 20th century music.

Reception

Chen is one of the most performed living composers around the world, winning him many accolades. In 2001, his orchestral work ''Wu Xing'' was selected from over 1000 entries as one of the five finalists of the Masterprize Award, hosted by the BBC. In 2003, EMI/Virgin Classics released an album devoted to his music, including the highly acclaimed work ''Iris devoilée''. It was later voted by ''Gramophone'' magazine as one of the Top Ten Classical Recordings of the Month. In 2005, he was awarded the Grand Prix de la Musique Symphonique by SACEM in recognition of his career achievement. He worked as Music Director of the

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event.

of the

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

in Beijing. Most recently, in 2013, he was decorated with

Chevalier de l'Ordre des arts et des lettres The ''Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' (Order of Arts and Letters) is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is t ...

by the French government. In 2015, he launched a composition workshop at Gonggen College in China, as a platform for dialogues with, and between, young musicians.

List of works

Chamber

* ''Le Souvenir'' (1985) for flute and harp * ''San Xiao'' (1995) for bamboo flute, san xian, zheng, and pipa * ''Extase II'' (1997) for oboe and instrumental ensemble * ''L'Éloignement'' (2003) for string orchestra * ''Instants d'un opéra de Pékin'' (version from 2004) for piano solo * ''Extase III'' (2010, arrangement of EXTASE) for oboe and traditional Chinese instrumental ensemble * ''Voyage d'un rêve'' (new version from 2017) for flute, harp, percussion, and string trio * ''La clarinette enchantée'' (2017) for flute, oboe, clarinet, basson, and French horn

Concerti

* ''Feu d'ombres'' (1990-1991) for soprano saxophone and small wind ensemble * ''Extase'' (1995) for oboe and orchestra * ''Reflet d'un temps disparu'' (1995-1996) for cello and orchestra * ''La Nuit profonde'' (2001) for jinghu/jing erhu and orchestra * ''Un Temps disparu'' (2002) for erhu and orchestra * ''Er Huang'' (2009) for piano and orchestra * ''Extase IV'' (2011, arrangement of Extase) for oboe and Chinese traditional orchestra * ''Reflet d'un temps disparu II'' (2011, arrangement of Reflet d'un temps disparu) for cello and traditional Chinese orchestra * ''Un Temps disparu II'' (2012) for viola and orchestra * ''Joie eternelle'' (2013) for trumpet in C and orchestra * ''La Joie de la souffrance'' (2017) for violin and orchestra

Vocal music

* ''Poème lyrique II'' (1990) for baritone and instrumental ensemble * ''Invisible Voices'' (2005) for 6 mixed voices and large orchestra * ''Jiang Tcheng Tse'' (2017) for solo voice, chorus, and orchestra

Orchestra

* ''Wu Xing'' (The Five Elements) (1998-1999) for symphony orchestra * ''Iris dévoilée'' (Iris Unveiled, 2001) for large orchestra, three female voices, pipa, erhu and banhu, and zheng * ''Enchantements oubliés'' (2004) for large string orchestra, harp, piano, celesta, and percussion * ''Ouverture symphonique: "Instants d'un opéra de Pékin"'' (2014) for symphony orchestra * ''Luan Tan'' (2010–2015) for orchestra * ''Itinéraire d'une illusion'' (2017) for symphony orchestra

Electro-acoustic

* ''Rêve d'un solitaire'' (1992–1993) for instrumental ensemble or orchestra and electronics

Music for ballet

* ''Raise the Red Lantern (Épouses et concubines)'' (2000)

Songs

* ''You and Me'' (2008); theme song of 29th Olympic games in Beijing 2008 * Theme song of film ''Under the Hawthorn Tree'' (2010) for male voice * ''Mother and childhood'' (2011) for male voice * ''Invisible Forbidden City'' (2011) for male voice * ''To meet again, in days gone by'' (2014) for male and female voice; theme song 2 for promotion of film "Coming Home" * ''Following in your footsteps, till the end of the world'' (2014) for male voice; theme song 1 for promotion of film "Coming Home" * ''Dream'' (2014) for female voice; theme song for subject-live performance at Dragon Tiger Mountain, Jiangxi

Music for open air project

* Music for the Opening Ceremony of the 29th Olympic Games (2008) # Scroll Painting # Ritual Music # You and Me

Music for film

* "Under the Hawthorn Tree" (2010) * "Flowers of War" (2011) * "Coming Home" (2014)

Publishers

* Gérard Billaudot (Paris, from 1985 to 2007) * Boosey & Hawkes (London, since 2008) * Durand (for ''La Nuit profonde'' & ''Raise the Red Lantern'')

General references

* BBC NOW/Zhang review – hypnotic, seductive stuff: Qigang Chen's beguiling score was conducted with love and care by Xian Zhang, who also brought grand passion to Rachmaninov's second symphony (Royal Albert Hall, London) https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jul/30/bbcnow-zhang-chen-premiere-prom-15 * Proms 2015: Prom 15, Prokofiev, Qigang Chen & Rachmaninov, review: 'beguiling' https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/proms/11770347/Proms-2015-Prom-15-Prokofiev-Qigang-Chen-and-Rachmaninov-review-beguiling.html * Prom, 15, review: Qigang Chen's Iris devoilee shows an interesting way forward https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/classical/reviews/prom-15-review-qigang-chens-iris-devoilee-shows-an-interesting-way-forward-10426743.html * Prom 2: A tentative orchestra but a dazzling soloist https://bachtrack.com/review-proms-china-philharmonic-balsom-july-2014 * BBC Proms: China Philharmonic, review: a triumph of programming. The visit from the China Philharmonic to the Proms was full of shrewd choices says Ivan Hewett https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/proms/10979129/BBC-Proms-China-Philharmonic-review-a-triumph-of-programming.html * Prom 2: China Philharmonic Orchestra/Yu review – a bit too cool https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jul/20/prom-2-china-philharmonic-orchestra-yu-review * Memories of son inspire composer Chen Qigang to escape his creative abyss http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1767928/memories-son-inspire-composer-chen-qigang-escape-his-creative-abyss * Konzert West-östliche Klangspiele: Long Yu dirigiert die Münchner Philharmoniker http://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/konzert-west-oestliche-klangspiele-1.3042458 * München/Die Münchner Philharmoniker – Qigang Chen – Gustav Mahler http://der-neue-merker.eu/muenchendie-muenchner-philharmoniker-qigang-chen-gustav-mahler * The China NCPA Orchestra is (mostly) brilliant at Koerner Hall in Toronto http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/music/the-china-ncpa-orchestra-is-mostly-brilliant-at-koerner-hall-in-toronto * Beijing orchestra makes impressive showing in Chicago debut http://chicagoclassicalreview.com/2014/11/beijing-orchestra-makes-impressive-showing-in-chicago-debut/ * China's National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra is four years old and on tour https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/music/visiting-chinese-orchestra-gives-energetic-performance *Qigang Chen: Works http://www.chenqigang.com/works.php

External links

Chen's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chen, Qigang 1951 births Chinese male composers Living people Chinese expatriates in France Musicians from Shanghai Chinese classical composers EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists French ballet composers