Xiaoyong Chen
• Born in Beijing in 1955 and later emigrated to Germany, Xiaoyong Chen combines Chinese musical aesthetics with the means of the Western avant-garde in a special way
• Studied violin and from 1980-1985 composition at the Beijing Central Conservatory
• until 1989 postgraduate studies with György Ligeti at the University of Music and Theatre in Hamburg, where he taught as Professor of Composition until his retirement in 2023
• Since March 2023 Professor of Composition in Guangzhou at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music
• Professor of Composition at the Central Conservatory of Music Beijing
• Other guest professorships regularly take him to China and East Asia
• Member of the Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg
• Chen structures his compositions very clearly and assigns a central role to the individual tone, its development and metamorphosis
• The starting point of many works are often supposedly simple sound events that only gradually reveal their complex structures
• the composer often uses original Chinese instruments
• Composition commissioned by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Interlaced Landscapes toured China and Portugal with the Orquestra Gulbenkian
• Important performers include the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra and the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, with whom Chen has a long-standing collaboration and has produced a CD
Xiaoyong Chen's successful works include:
Diary I-VI for piano/organ (1996 - 2019)
Interlaced Fragments for sheng and viola (2004)
Colours of Dreams for large orchestra (2008)
Liberation - A Requiem for Humanity for Tibetan singer, accordion, organ, two percussionists, seven violoncellos, double bass and mixed choir (2021)
Speechlessness, Clearness and Ease for ensemble (2004)
Zi Zhu (The Red Bamboo) for flute and koto (2021)
Please also visit the website of Xiaoyong Chen at [https://www.xiaoyongchen.com/]
Works by Xiaoyong Chen are represented worldwide by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski.
Looking Ahead: 70th birthday (13 May 2025)
We live in a world in which people are inundated with superficial information. Their attention for important information has been weakened as a result. They have become mentally fatigued and passive, so that they are no longer able to develop their imagination freely. It's the same in music (Xiaoyong Chen)
