| Intro | Composer, multi-instrumentalist, performance artist |
| Is |
Musician Composer |
| From |
United States of America China |
| Type | Music |
| Gender | female |
| Birth | 18 June 1977 |
| Age: | 43 years |
| Star sign | Gemini |
Du Yun (traditional Chinese: 杜韻, simplified Chinese: 杜韵 born June 18, 1977 in Shanghai, China) is a Chinese born international composer, multi-instrumentalist and performance artist.
Biography
Du was born in Shanghai, China. She began studying piano at the age of four, attending the primary school Shanghai Conservatory of Music for piano. She studied composition at the middle school Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Du later moved to the United States and graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and received a PhD in music composition from Harvard University.
In 2006, Du Yun joined the composition faculty at the State University of New York-Purchase.
Career
Her works include compositions for solo instruments, electroacoustic music, chamber music, orchestral works, opera, indie pop, theatre, oral tradition music, sound installations, and performance art pieces. Du’s works have been performed internationally in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Guangzhou Opera House, the Salle Pleyel Paris, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Escola de Música do Estado in São Paulo, the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in Germany. She has written for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and solo artists Hilary Hahn and Matt Haimovitz.
In 2014, Du was named the Artistic Director of the MATA Festival in New York City.
Collaborations
Du has collaborated with visual artists Shahzia Sikander and David Michalek, flutist Claire Chase and Chinese Kunqu artist Qian Yi.
Critical Reception
Du is regarded as one of China’s leading young composers and has been described as an “adventurously eclectic composer” and “an indie diva with avant garde edge” by The New York Times.
Awards
- Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Elaine Lebenbom Award
- Fromm Music Foundation
- Chamber Music America
- http://www.dso.org/Page.aspx?page_id=553
- http://www.music.fas.harvard.edu/fromm.html
- http://www.chamber-music.org/programs/grants-awards/recipients/408