Chihchun Chi-sun Lee

Chihchun Chi-sun Lee

Fellow: Awarded 2015
Field of Study: Music Composition

Competition: US & Canada

Taiwanese-American composer Chihchun Chi-sun Lee, winner of the 1st Brandenburg Biennial Composers Competition, was educated in both Taiwan and United States. She received a doctoral degree from the University of Michigan, two masters’ degrees from Ohio University, and a bachelor’s degree from Soochow University in Taiwan. Her teachers included William Albright, William Bolcom, Yen Lu, Mark Phillips, Bright Sheng, Loong-Hsing Wen and Yann-Jong Hwang. In 2009, she became only the fourth women in history to receive the nomination of “best composer” from the Golden Melody Awards (Taiwan’s version of the Grammys) for her debut CD “Elegance”. Ms. Lee served as the composer-in-residence with Chai Found Music Workshop in 2009-2011, funded by the Taiwan National Culture and Arts Foundation. Currently she is the board member of Korea-China Art Association, the invited professor at the Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea.

She has received numerous honors; these include the Guggenheim Fellowship, Harvard Fromm Music Fellowship, Taiwan National Culture and Arts Foundation commissions, Taiwan National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) commission, National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (NTSO) commissions, National Orchestra of Korea (NOK) commissions, Taipei Chinese Orchestra (TCO) commission, Theodore Front Prize from International Alliance for Women in Music, ISCM/League of Composers Competition, International Festival of Women Composers Composition Prize, Florida Individual Artist Fellowship, Florida Artist Enhancement Grant, Arts Council of Hillsborough County Individual Artist Grant, the SCI/ASCAP Student Composer Commission, the Hong Kong Chou Scholarship, the Joyce Dutka Arts Foundation, the “Music Taipei” award, the Fresh Ink Orchestral Composition Competition, the Margaret Blackburn Competition, NACUSA, the Taiwan Environmental Protection Bureau Music Contest, the Taiwan Provincial Music Competition, the Taiwan National Songwriting Prize, a Taiwan International Community Radio grant, and the Taiwan International Young Composers Competition. Some of her most significant performances have included her Concerto for Zheng in Carnegie Hall, a concert dedicated to her music in Taiwan National Concert Hall and at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. In addition, her music has had numerous performances and broadcasts worldwide in Australia, Austria, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hawaii, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Ukraine, China, Hong Kong, and around the continental United States. She has previously taught at Johnson County Community College, Washburn University, Rhodes College, and the University of South Florida. Her works appear on CDs from the SONY, Albany/Capstone label, ERMedia’s Masterworks (Naxos), Ravello Records/PARMA, NACUSA, Celebrity Music Pte. Ltd. in Singapore, Himalaya Record Co., Ltd and Glorious Pantheons Production in Taiwan. Publications related to Lee’s music can be found in 20th Century Asian Composers’ Biographies, World Music: Traditions and Transformations, Taiwanese contemporary music composers’ interview for Chinese traditional instruments (1970-2011) and Forum of Current Zheng Music Education Practical Affairs in Taiwan. She is fluent in composing for all instrumental and vocal medium and also has done significant work with indigenous instrument groups, such as Chai Found Music Workshop, Music From China, the Taiwan National Chinese Orchestra, the Taipei Chinese traditional orchestra and other Chinese instrumentalists, including zheng virtuoso, Haiqiong Deng.

Lee’s reviews can be found in Gramophone, Il Giornale della Musica from Italy, American Record Guide, Fanfare Magazine, NACWPI Journal and Newspaper reviews from “Preußenspiegel”, Brandenburger Wochenblatt (BRAWO), Märkische Allgemeine, Märkische Allgemeine Brandenburger Stadtkurier from Germany, Macau Newspaper 訊報, Art Criticism by National Cultural and Arts Foundation 國家文化藝術基金會藝評台and Performing Arts Review from Taiwan.

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