Chen Yi (born 1953)
Chen Yi was born in Guangzhou, China, and was first exposed to Western music through her parents’ collection of records and tapes. She began learning piano and violin at an early age but had to suppress her interest in Western music during the Cultural Revolution, which started in 1966. She was sent to the countryside to work as a farmer between the ages of 15 and 17, where she was incidentally exposed to Chinese folk songs.
When the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing reopened in 1977, Chen Yi was able to attend. She studied both Western music and traditional Chinese music at the Conservatory and in 1986 became the first Chinese woman to earn a Master of Arts in composition. She then moved to New York City to study composition at Columbia University where she earned a Doctor of Musical Arts.
Chen Yi has written numerous compositions for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, voice, choruses, and orchestras, many of which incorporate Chinese instruments and influences. She currently teaches at the University of Missouri – Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance.
Chen Yi’s fusion of Western and Chinese music is quite evident in her thrilling Percussion Concerto from 1998, which Chen Yi says was “deeply inspired by the arts of Beijing Opera.” The percussion soloist (who also sings) is downstage right but notice also the three percussionists upstage behind the orchestra.
The website of Presser (who publishes Chen Yi’s music) has an extended description of the Percussion Concerto.
Here’s a chamber work Ning from 2001 for violin, cello, and pipa, a traditional Chinese instrument:
If you’re up for more, this video from a 2017 streaming from the Curtis Institute of Music includes a pre-concert interview with Chen Yi and six of her chamber works: