Born: 1957, Simao, China

“Shostakovich, as a composer also living under a dictatorship, taught me to express deep humanity. From Takemitsu, I learned that Western and Eastern instruments can be part of the same color palette. John Cage led me to discover structures and sounds as yet unknown, by always keeping an open mind.”

During the Cultural Revolution in China, TAN DUN planted rice and performed in a Peking opera company. At the age of 19 he entered the composition department of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing after it had reopened. He moved to New York in 1986 and completed a doctoral degree at Columbia University in 1993. Inspired by nature and Chinese philosophy, Tan Dun integrates elements of Western and Asian musical traditions, combining technological invention and deep spiritual reflection. He won the Grawemeyer Award for his opera Marco Polo in 1998, and an Academy Award and a Grammy in 2001 for his Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon score.

Further listening:

Water Passion After St. Matthew (oratorio, 2000)

soloists, Berlin RIAS Chamber Chorus,

ensemble, Tan Dun (Sony Classical)