Bright Sheng

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bright Sheng (surname Sheng, born Shèng Zōngliàng, 盛宗亮, in Shanghai, China, December 6, 1955) is a Chinese-American composer, conductor, and pianist. He has lived in the United States since 1982 and is on faculty at the University of Michigan. In 1999, the White House commissioned Sheng to compose a piece to honor the Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji at a state dinner hosted by Bill Clinton. In November 2001, Sheng received a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship. Sheng is New York City Ballet's first composer in residence.

Sheng's compositions have been performed by most major American orchestras as well as many European, and Asian orchestras, including the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre de Paris, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the China National Symphony. Some of the most notable performers of Sheng's music have included Leonard Bernstein, Yo-Yo Ma, Peter Serkin, Kurt Masur, Emanuel Ax, Leonard Slatkin, Robert Spano, David Zinman, and Neeme Järvi. Sheng's most notable teachers include Leonard Bernstein and Chou Wen-Chung.

[edit] Notable compositions

• Nanking! Nanking!
• Red Silk Dance
• Madame Mao, commissioned by and given its world premiere by the Santa Fe Opera in 2003
• China Dreams
• The Silver River (1997)
• Four Movements for Piano Trio
• Seven Tunes Heard in China, for Solo Cello
• The Nightingale and the Rose

[edit] Trivia

• The second syllable of Sheng's given name, Liang, loosely translates as "bright lights," which is why he took "Bright" as his English first name.

[edit] External links

• Bright Sheng official site
• Bright Sheng page from G. Schirmer Inc. site
• Biography from the University of Michigan School of Music
• New York City Ballet home page