Chou Wen-chung

Professional Achievements

The curriculum vitae of Chou Wen-chung (continued)

Other Professional Activities

2010
Participate in “Music from the Past, Music for the Future,” Pacific Rim Music Festival, UCSC, Santa Cruz, CA. Commentator at symposium: “Intercultural Creative Process.” Lead colloquium: “Prerequisite for a 21st Century Composer: a Personal Experience,” Department of Music, UCSC
2010
Video conference with artists at the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, 15th Other Minds Music Festival, San Francisco, CA
2009
In residence at Wien Modern Festival, Vienna. “Varèse,” oral history concert: performance of Déserts and Echoes from the Gorge with comments by Chou, Vienna Concert Hall. Discussion with film maker Frank Scheffer for showing of his film “Varèse: The One All Alone.” Lecture “Varèse: Music and Natural Phenomena” at the symposium “Musik, Mathematik und Architektur,” University of Music and Dramatic Art, Vienna
2009
Helped organize program for concert series “Varèse-- Before and After,” Festival Slowind, Ljubljana, Slovenia; works by Varèse and composers who interacted with him, Chou, as well as young European composers, performed by Slowind Wind Quintet; Slovene Philharmonic Brass Ensemble, Robert Aitken, conductor; and others. Presented one-day international workshop on Varèse at University of Ljubljana. Participated in discussion with film maker Frank Scheffer at showing of his film “Varèse: The One All Alone,” produced in collaboration with Chou.
2009
Created spatialized orchestrated version of Varèse’s Etude pour Espace, performed by Asko Ensemble; Varèse 360° Holland Festival, Amsterdam.
2008
Lecturer, concert series “Chou Wen-chung and the Varèse Story,” New Music Concerts, Toronto; Varèse works: Déserts, Ionisation, Offrandes, Intégrales, Density 21.5 and Chou works: Streams, Twilight Colors and Echoes from the Gorge performed by New Music Concerts, Robert Aitken, conductor.
2007
Two speeches at Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou, China.
2007
Lecture on the future of Chinese culture “Future is in the Past” and concert featuring Chou’s music upon conferral of Honorary Professor of Music, Nankai University, Tianjin, China.
2007
Lecture “Natural Phenomena and Human Emotion,” and concert featuring Chou’s music, “Nong Project 2007” at KNUA Hall, Seoul, Korea; Windswept Peaks, Streams, Twilight Colors, and Echoes from the Gorge performed by The Korean National University of the Arts Orchestra.
2007
Lecture at Department of Music, Hangyang University, Seoul, Korea.
2007
Speaker at panel discussion preceding concert, “Four Generations of Asian Composers,” celebrating Chinary Ung’s 65th birthday, Asia Society, New York. Concert featured works by Ung, Chou, and other Asian composers. Streams performed by Brentano Quartet.
2007
Trip to Yunnan, China to celebrate 30th anniversary of Center for US-China Arts Exchange and 10th anniversary of the Center’s Yunnan Project. Two conferences: One in Dali region to review results of a 7-year project for conservation of indigenous cultures along the Silk Road, in particular, restoration of ancient city site of Weishan, center of trade and cultural interaction dating from 8th century; and one in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, to review work in one of the densest regions of cultural diversity in the world.
2007
Lecture for BluePrint series “Composers Talk Shop” and concert at San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Windswept Peaks performed by Ensemble Parallèle, Nicole Paiement, conductor.
2007
Lecture “The Future is in the Past,” World Music Composition Seminar at University of California at Santa Cruz, CA.
2006
Keynote Speaker, Varèse Symposium, Museum Tinguely, Basel; “Varèse- The One All Alone.”
2006
Lecture “The Future is in the Past,” Musichochschule, Cologne, Germany.
2006
Discussion of Varèse’s Déserts with David Robertson, Symposium on Varèse and Messiaen, Zankel Hall, New York.
2006
Concert series, “Honoring Varèse and the International Composers Guild;” Windswept Peaks performed by Boston Musica Viva, Richard Pittman, conductor; Cello Concerto performed by New England Philharmonic, Richard Pittman, conductor; Tsai Performance Center, Boston.
2004
Speech upon conferral of the first Honorary Professor of Composition title at Central Conservatory of Music, Bejing, China. Speech, Summit Forum on Chinese Culture, Beijing, China.
2003
Honoree, speaker and lecturer, Chou Wen-chung Festival, Taipei, Taiwan; “Music ‘Commercialism’ and ‘Globalization’?”
2003
Keynote speaker, Asian Music Festival, Tokyo, Japan; “Beyond Identity”
2002
Regents Lectureship, University of California, Santa Cruz
2001
Initiated Yunnan Dialogues Project, which maximized visiting professors dialogues with counterparts in various minority regions in Yunnan Province, China, for The Center for US-China Arts Exchange
2001
Visiting lecturer, University of California at San Diego, California; “Music — What is its Future?”
2000
Initiated Weishan Project for The Center for US-China Arts Exchange
1999
Principal speaker, International Conference on Culture and Humanity in the New Millenium: The Future of Human Values, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; “Wenren and Culture”
1999
Organized Yunnan Leadership Conference for The Center for US-China Arts Exchange
1998
Principal speaker and panelist, Asian Composers League, Taipei, Taiwan
1998
Principal speaker and panelist, Review of Nationalities Arts Programs of The Center for US-China Arts Exchange, Kunming, China
1998
Organized review of the Nationalities Arts Department, Yunnan Nationalities Institute, Kunming, China
1997
Organized and led delegations in the United States and China for “Cities East and West, A Comparative Study: Innovation and Tradition,” a project of The Center for US-China Arts Exchange
1997
Organized conferences in Beijing, Shanghai, and Washington, DC in conjunction with “Cities East and West, A Comparative Study: Innovation and Tradition”
1996
Lecturer, Pacific Rim Festival, UCSC, Santa Cruz, California
1996
Participated in the making of “Poème Electronique” a film about Varèse, VPRO Television, Amsterdam
1996
Participated in and spoke at “A Festival of Sino-American Music and Culture,” University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
1996
Supplied materials, held rehearsals, and lectured at “L’Integrale Varèse,” Lyon, France
1995
Participated in the making of the documentary, “The Organisation of Sound,” VPRO Television, Amsterdam
1995
Participated in the making of the documentary, “E. Varèse,” Les Films d’ici, Paris, France
1995
Speaker, 17th Conference and Festival of Asian Composers League
1995
Member, Nominating Jury, 1995 Pulitzer Prize in Music
1995
Organized and conducted the “Joint Plan on Nationalities Cultures Review Session,” Center for US-China Arts Exchange, New York, NY
1994
Speaker, l6th Conference and Festival of Asian Composers League; “Asian Music Today? What is it?”
1992-present
As director of The Center for US-China Arts Exchange, responsible for the concept and administration of the Joint Plan on Yunnan Nationalities Cultures, a comprehensive program on the continuation and development of minority cultures in Yunnan, China, with support grants totaling more than $2 million from the Ford Foundation. Work included multiple trips to China as music education specialist, project administrator, group leader and consultant
1992
Visited countries in South and Southeast Asia to investigate the potential for cooperation between specialists in these countries’ cultures and the minority cultures in Yunnan, China, on a Ford Foundation grant on behalf of The Center for US-China Arts Exchange
1991
Organized and chaired a conference of artists from China, panel discussions in Los Angeles, California
1990 & 1991
Visited China’s Yunnan Province to evaluate the conditions of its minority cultures and explore the feasibility of carrying out a project on cultural conservation, under a Ford Foundation grant on behalf of the Center for US-China Arts Exchange
1990
Leader/Lecturer, International Composers' Workshop, Gaudeamus Foundation; Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1990
Participated as one of the four “Minds for History” at Minds III 1990, Arcosanti, Arizona
1990
Artistic Director, Pacific Composers Conference; Sapporo, Japan
1989
Organized “The Imagery of Sound: The Music of Toru Takemitsu,” consisting of a concert, lecture, and exhibition, New York, sponsored by the Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music and the Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture
1988
Organized a conference on the “Tradition and Future of Chinese Music,” for Taiwanese and Mainland Composers, The Center for US-China Arts Exchange, Columbia University, New York
1988
Composer/Lecturer, Festival for Contemporary Music, National Institute of the Arts; Taipei, Taiwan
1988
Principal Speaker; 30th Anniversary Festival, Contemporary Music Society; Seoul, Korea
1988
Composer/Lecturer, Concert Symposium, The Music Research Center, Hanyang University; Seoul, Korea
1988
Leader/Lecturer International Composers’ Workshop, Gaudeamus Foundation; Amsterdam, The Netherlands
1988
Speaker, the International Symposium: “Music in the Dialogue of Cultures, Traditional Music and Cultural Policy”; Berlin, Germany
1988
Keynote Speaker, The ISCM-ACL World Music Days Festival; Hong Kong
1987
Member, the 1988 ISCM International Jury during the ISCM-ACL World Music Days Festival
1987
Juror, Shanghai International Music Competition; Shanghai, China
1987
Leader, fact-finding delegation to China to examine current climate for the arts and arts exchange at the invitation of the Ministry of Culture
1987
Organized concert honoring Vladimir Ussachevsky in celebration of his 75th birthday as part of the School of the Arts Festival week; Columbia University
1986
Organized workshop on “The Music of Edgard Varèse” as part of the College Band Directors’ National Association; University of Wisconsin; Madison, Wisconsin
1986
Organized workshop on “The Music of Edgard Varèse and Chou Wen-chung,” Michigan State University
1986
Organized “The Music of Luening — A Retrospective at 85,” a major concert sponsored by the Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music, Columbia University
1986
Speaker, “Towards a Future for Chinese Music” at the First Festival of Contemporary Chinese Music; Hong Kong
1986
Facilitator for the evaluation of the future of the National Orchestra Association
1986
Gave lecture on “The Music of Chou Wen-chung” as part of the Barlow Lecture Series at Brigham Young University; Provo, Utah
1985
Leader, delegation on Arts Education to China
1985
As the Director of The Center for US-China Arts Exchange, arranged for fifty-six children from China to participate in the Jacques D’Amboise Event of the Year at Madison Square Garden; New York
1984
Principal Speaker, The Asian Composers League Conference; Wellington, New Zealand
1984
Visited Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia to study the arts in Southeast Asia on a Rockefeller Brothers Fund grant
1984
Judge, Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome
1983
Led a delegation of prominent American citizens to participate in the opening of “Death of a Salesman,” Beijing, China
1983
Organized “Remembering Varèse,” a series of concerts and other public events; New York, New York
1983
Organizer, Roundtable: “Tradition and Contemporary Composition,” 27th Conference of the International Council for Traditional Music, New York, NY
1981
Leader, delegation of prominent American artists to the People’s Republic of China
1981
Panelist, University of the Philippines Composers Forum; Manila, The Philippines
1981
Gave a series of lectures and workshops; Taipei, Taiwan
1981
Initiated and arranged for Arthur Miller to direct a Chinese-language production of “Death of a Salesman” in Beijing, China, as a project of The Center for US-China Arts Exchange
1981
Principal Speaker, Asian Composers Conference and Festival; Hong Kong
1981
Chairman, New York State Council of the Arts, Music Panel
1979
Facilitated and arranged events for the filming of “From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China,” a documentary on lsaac Stern’s visit to China, as a project of The Center for US-China Arts Exchange
1979
Principal Speaker, 6th Asian Composers League Conference-Festival; Seoul, Korea
1978
Coordinator, “An Evening of Chinese Poetry and Music,” Library of Congress; Washington, D.C.
1977-1980
Member, Delegation, Board of National Committee on US-China Relations, to the People’s Republic of China for negotiation on future arts exchanges
1977
Principal Speaker, The Korean National Academy of the Arts; Seoul, Korea
1977
Selected Flowing Streams for qin for inclusion in the “Montage of Earth Sounds” carried by the spacecraft Voyager and Voyager 2 to outer space
1976
Panelist, Chinese Poetry and American Imagination, The American Academy of Poetry
1976-1981
Judge, Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund composers contest
1975-present
Judge, East-West Artist composition contest
1975
Panel Chairman, Association for Asian Studies, Western Conference; Tempe, Arizona
1974
Principal Speaker, Eduard van Beinum Stichting Musicultura 1974; Breukelen, The Netherlands
1974
One man photography exhibit, Discovery Gallery; New York, New York
1971
Host, series of thirteen one-hour programs on Music of East Asia, WMCM, sponsored by JDR 3rd Fund
1971
Lecturer, International Bach Society Annual Congress; New York, NY
1970
Member, Advisory panel, New York State Council on the Arts
1969-1974
Consultant, C.F. Peters Corporation
1969
Judge, Rome Prize, American Academy in Rome
1969
Judge, American International Music Fund Recording Project
1969
Judge, Inter-American Music Awards
1966
Principal Speaker & Panelist, UNESCO International Music Symposium; Manila, The Philippines
1966
Appointed Music Executor, Edgard Varèse’s music and papers
1965
Commentator, Program on the Music of China, Metromedia TV network
1963
Speaker, International Conference on General Semantics, New York University; New York, NY
1961-1972
Judge, Broadcast Music Inc., Student Composers Awards
1957
Panelist and Speaker, Sixth National Conference of UNESCO; San Francisco
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