Bright Sheng

Bright Sheng

Fellow: Awarded 1990
Field of Study: Music Composition

Competition: US & Canada

Bright Sheng was born on December 6, 1955, in Shanghai, China, and moved to New York in 1982. He is currently the Leonard Bernstein Distinguished University Professor at the University of Michigan. Among other honors, he received a MacArthur Fellowship in 2001.

Mr. Sheng has collaborated with distinguished musicians such as Leonard Bernstein, Kurt Masur, Christoph Eschenbach, Charles Dutoit, Leonard Slatkin, Gerard Schwarz, David Robertson, David Zinman, Neeme Järvi, Robert Spano, Hugh Wolff, Yo Yo Ma, Peter Serkin, Emanuel Ax, Chao-Liang Lin, Yefim Bronfman, Evelyn Glennie, among others. His work has been widely commissioned and performed by virtually all the important musical institutions in North America, Europe, and Asia, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Orchestra de Paris, BBC Symphony, Hamburg Radio Symphony, Danish National Symphony, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Santa Fe Opera, and the New York City Opera, as well as by the White House and the 2008 Beijing International Olympic Games.

His compositions are published exclusively by G. Schirmer Inc. in New York City, and can be heard on recordings issued by the Naxos, Sony Classical, Talarc, Delos, Koch International, New World, and Grammofon AB BIS labels.

His music ranges from dramatic to lyrical and is strongly influenced by the folk and classical music tradition from eastern and central Asia. Since 2000, he has been studying and researching the music phenomenon of the Silk Road culture. He has also served as the Artistic Advisor to Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project Inc.

As a conductor and pianist, he has performed around the world: in the U.S., with the San Francisco Symphony, Detroit Symphony, Seattle Symphony, New York Chamber Symphony, and the Grand Rapids Symphony, and at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center; with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic in Russia; with the Dormund Philharmonic in Germany; and with the China National Symphony, among others.

A complete list of Bright Sheng’s works, as well as information on his most recent performances and premieres can be found at this website.

 

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