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Sheng, Bright (b. December 6, 1955, Shanghai). Chinese-born American composer of stage, orchestral, chamber, and vocal works that have been performed throughout the world; he is also active as a conductor and pianist.
Prof. Sheng studied piano with his mother as a child and studied composition with Wang Jian-zhong at the Conservatory of Music in Shanghai from 1978-82. He studied composition with George Perle and Hugo Weisgall at Queens College and there earned his MA in 1984 and later studied composition with Jack Beeson and Chou Wen-chung at Columbia University, where he earned his DMA in 1993. He also studied composition and conducting privately with Leonard Bernstein from 1985-90.
He has received many honors in China, as well as three fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Charles Ives Scholarship Award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (1984) and the Rackham Fellowship from the University of Michigan (2000). He has also earned the Michigan Arts Award (2001), the MacArthur Fellowship Award (2001), the American Award in Music from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (2001), and the ASCAP Achievement Award (2002). In addition, he has received grants from various foundations and organizations.
Prof. Sheng is also active in other positions. He worked as a pianist and timpanist with the Folk Dance and Music Theatre in Qinghai province from 1971-78 and there also collected folk music. He served as composer-in-residence to the Lyric Opera of Chicago from 1989-92 and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra from 1992-95 and in 2000-01 and at the Tanglewood Music Center in 2001. He also served as artist-in-residence with the Washington Performing Arts Society in 2001-02 and has served as composer-in-residence at the Mannes College of Music since 2002. He has been artistic advisor to the Queens Symphony Orchestra since 1997 and to the Silk Road Project since 1998.
He has taught composition at the University of Michigan since 1995, where he was Professor of Music from 1995-2003 and has been the Leonard Bernstein Distinguished University Professor of Music since 2003. He has also held an honorary professorship at the Conservatory of Music in Wuhan since 1996 and has lectured throughout the world.
G. Schirmer publishes his music and Columbia Artists Management represents him as a conductor and pianist.
CONTACT INFORMATION
E-mail address: bsheng@umich.edu
Street address (university): Prof. Bright Sheng, School of Music, University of Michigan, 1100 Baits Dr., Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Telephone (university): 734 647 9413
Street address for consulting scores: G. Schirmer, 257 Park Ave. South, 20th Floor, New York City, NY 10010, USA
E-mail address for engagements: info@cami.com
SELECT LIST OF WORKS (dates given are those of the première)
STAGE: The Song of Majnun (1 act opera, libretto by Andrew Porter), soprano, 3 mezzo-sopranos, tenor, 2 baritones, bass-baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1992 (a suite was arranged as Fragments from 'The Song of Majnun'); may i feel, said he (mini-opera, libretto by E.E. Cummings), soprano, tenor, piano 4 hands, 1996; The Silver River (music theatre work, text by David Henry Hwang), male Chinese opera voice, baritone, actress, 3 dancers, flute (+ piccolo, alto flute), clarinet (+ bass clarinet, percussion), pipa, violin (+ percussion), cello (+ percussion), percussion, 1997, revised 2000; Madame Mao (2 act opera, libretto by Colin Graham), high lyric soprano, 2 sopranos, mezzo-soprano, 2 tenors, 3 baritones, 2 basses, mixed chorus, large orchestra, 2003
ORCHESTRAL: H'un – Lacerations: In Memoriam 1966-76, large orchestra, 1988; China Dreams, large orchestra, 1992-95 (two sections may be performed separately: Fanfare, 1992; Prelude, 1994); Postcards, 1997; Spring Dreams, cello, Chinese orchestra, 1997 (also version for violin, Chinese orchestra, 1999; version as Two Poems, cello, orchestra, 1998); Flute Moon, flute (+ piccolo), small orchestra (harp, piano, 5 percussion, strings), 1999; Red Silk Dance, piano, orchestra, 1999; Nanking! Nanking!, pipa, large orchestra, 2000; Tibetan Swing, large orchestra, 2002; The Song and Dance of Tears (symphonic poem), sheng (Chinese mouth organ), pipa, violin, cello, large orchestra, 2003; Colors of Crimson (concerto), marimba, large orchestra, 2004
CHAMBER MUSIC: Three Études, flute, 1982, revised 1988; Three Pieces, viola, piano, 1986; The Stream Flows, viola, 1988 (also longer version for violin, 1990); Four Movements, violin, cello, piano, 1990; String Quartet No. 3, 1993; Seven Yadhtrib Variations, bassoon, 1994; Concertino, clarinet, string quartet, 1994; Seven Tunes Heard in China, cello, 1995; A Tune from Childhood, clarinet, 1996; Three Songs, pipa, cello, 1999; String Quartet No. 4, 'Silent Temple', 2000; Tibetan Dance, clarinet, violin, piano, 2001
CHORAL: Two Folksongs from Qinghai, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1989 (also version for mixed chorus, 2 pianos, 2 percussion, 1989); Fragments from 'The Song of Majnun', soprano, tenor, mixed chorus, orchestra, 1992 (suite from opera); Two Chinese Folk Tunes, children's chorus, youth string orchestra, 1998
VOCAL: Three Chinese Poems (texts by Wang Wei, Du Fu, Lu Xun), mezzo-soprano, piano, 1982, revised 1992; Two Poems from the Sung Dynasty (texts by Lu Yu, Li Qing-zhao), soprano, small orchestra (13 players), 1985; Three Chinese Love Songs, soprano, viola, piano, 1988; The Phoenix (text by the composer, after Hans Christian Andersen), soprano, large orchestra, 2004
PIANO: My Song, 1989; Distant Birthday Bells, 2001
DISCOGRAPHY
H'un: In Memoriam 1966-76; The Stream Flows (violin version); Three Chinese Love Songs; My Song. Lisa Saffer, soprano; Lucia Lin, violin; Paul Neubauer, viola; Peter Serkin, Bright Sheng, pianos; Gerard Schwarz/New York Chamber Symphony (New World: 80407, 1990)
Arias and Barcarolles (Leonard Bernstein). Gerard Schwarz/Seattle Symphony Orchestra (Delos: DE 3078, 1992)
Two Folksongs from Qinghai. John Oliver/John Oliver Chorale and Orchestra (Koch/Schwann: 7178, 1994)
The Song of Majnun. Ward Holmquist/Houston Grand Opera (Delos: DE 3211, 1997)
Concertino. David Shifrin, clarinet; Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (Delos: DE 3183, 1999)
Seven Tunes Heard in China. Yo-Yo Ma, cello (Sony Classical: 64114, 1999)
Flute Moon; China Dreams; Postcards. Sharon Bezaly, flutes; Shui Lan/Singapore Symphony Orchestra (BIS: 1122, 2000)
Four Movements; String Quartet No. 3; Three Songs; String Quartet No. 4, 'Silent Temple'. Wu Man, pipa; Weigang Li, violin; Nicholas Tzavaras, cello; Bright Sheng, piano; Shanghai Quartet (BIS: 1138, 2003)
China Dreams; Two Poems from the Sung Dynasty; Nanking! Nanking! Juliana Gondek, soprano; Zhang Qiang, pipa; Samuel Wong/Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra (Naxos: 8.555866, 2003)
(Last updated on October 24, 2004)
