CHEN, Shih-Hui
CHEN, Shih-Hui
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Recipient of the 2023 Walter Hinrichsen Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Taiwanese American composer SHIH-HUI CHEN is fascinated by the narratives at the intersection of identity, culture, and tradition. In her works, she seeks to cross boundaries between music and society, between the music of distinct cultures, and between music and other art forms.
This perspective informs her creative works and community projects. For example, her recent project, a cross-genre theatrical work, Kimchi, Pickles and Wine, explores the idea of food preservation to bring together people of all worldwide cultures. Her desire to create connections among members of the global community led her to found 21C: Classical, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Asian Music, an annual performing arts festival fostering intercultural exchange between Asia and the U.S. through a series of lectures and performances.
Seeking a more in-depth understanding of the music and cultures of her homeland, Chen spent two years studying indigenous and nanguan music in Taiwan, in affiliation with the Institute of Ethnology, Academia Sinica; the works that grew from this study synthesize a variety of musical genres. They include Withholding the Umbrella for Chinese Orchestra, inspired by Taiwanese nanguan music and commissioned by the Taiwan Institute; Returning Souls: Four Short pieces on Three Formosan Amis Legends, music Chen composed for a documentary by anthropological filmmaker Taili Hu; and Echoes from Within: A Musical Response to Cy Twombly, a 45-minute site-specific work for sheng, double bass and electronics, commissioned by The Menil Collection in collaboration with composer Kurt Stallmann.
Shih-Hui Chen currently serves on the Performing Arts and Culture committee at the Asia Society Texas Center and is on faculty at the Shepherd School of Music, Rice University. She has worked with the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, the Utah Symphony, and the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra. Recognition of her work has come from institutions including American Academy in Rome, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, Harvard/Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, and the Fulbright Scholar Program. Chen’s recent projects include a sixty- minute chamber opera, or/and; a thirty- minute, multimedia cello concerto, Our Son Is Not Coming Home To Dinner; and a sixty-minute, mixed-media viola concerto, sisila ila ila: saying goodbye, which includes shadow puppets. Her music can be heard on Albany, New World and Bridge Records. (http://shihhuichen.com/)
“Among the composers of Asian descent living in the U.S.A., Shih-Hui Chen is most successful in balancing the very refined spectral traditions of the East with the polyphonic practice of Western art-music. In a seamless narrative, her beautiful music, always highly inventive and expressive, is immediately as appealing as it is demanding and memorable.” -- 2007 Goddard Lieberson award from American Academy of Arts and Letters.
“deep musical intelligence”-- Wire Magazine on CD Returning Souls.
sisila ila ila: saying goodbye
2023
Our Son Is Not Coming Home To Dinner
2022
or/and
2021
Perpetual Movable Games
2020
Echoes from Within, a Musical Response to Cy Twombly
2018
na ya i ya i 排灣古謠
2017| Title | Instrumentation | Year | Duration | NCAF-funded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| sisila ila ila: saying goodbye | 2023 | |||
| or/and | 2021 | 60'00" |
| Title | Instrumentation | Year | Duration | NCAF-funded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Our Son Is Not Coming Home To Dinner | 2022 | 30'00" | ||
| Silvergrass | for Cello and Chamber Orchestra | 2016 | 12'21" | |
| A Plea to Lady Chang’e | for Chamber Orchestra and Nanguan Pipa | 2014 | 9'18" | |
| Fantasia on the Theme of Guanglingsan | for Zheng and Chinese Orchestra | 2014 | 11'38" |
| Title | Instrumentation | Year | Duration | NCAF-funded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| na ya i ya i 排灣古謠 | for acapella chorus | 2017 | 5'36" |
| Title | Instrumentation | Year | Duration | NCAF-funded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perpetual Movable Games | for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord | 2020 | 9'40" | |
| Echoes from Within, a Musical Response to Cy Twombly | for sheng, bass and electronic | 2018 | 23'08" | |
| Fantasia on the Theme of Plum Blossoms | for String Quartet | 2007 | 16'32" |
| Title | Instrumentation | Year | Duration | NCAF-funded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Returning Souls: Four Short Pieces on Three Formosan Amis Legends | for Solo Violin | 2011 | 9'18" |
* link to " NCAF online Archive of Grant Fruitages "website (in Chinese)
| Title | Instrumentation | Year | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perpetual Movable Games | for Flute, Oboe, Cello and Harpsichord | 2020 | 9'40" |
| na ya i ya i 排灣古謠 | for acapella chorus | 2017 | 5'36" |