In Her Own Words: Conversations with Composers in the United States

6. Chen Yi

6 Chen Yi Chen Yi was born into a musical family in Guangzhou, China, in 1953. Raised with a respect for European- and Russian-influenced classical art music, Chen learned piano and violin and spent years listening to her father’s classical-music collection . Her knowledge and practice of classical music helped carry her through the events of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. During our conversation, this normally vivacious and enthusiastic woman softens her voice and drops in pitch as she describes the extraordinary efforts made to hide and preserve the music she loved in spite of the revolution’s repressions. Her journey eventually led Chen to Kuandi Photo, Beijing 102 . chapter 6 be among the first class of composers to enter the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing when the Cultural Revolution came to an end. When asked about the Chinese folk songs sung by farmers during the revolution , Chen reminds me that folk songs were outlawed because they are intimately tied to language and culture. Like Alice Parker and Gabriela Lena Frank, Chen recognizes that to reach the heart of music one must understand its culture. With knowledge of languages and cultural systems from both China and Europe, Chen seamlessly weaves the two in much of her music. Like Toshiko Akiyoshi, Chen’s heritage is infused into her compositions through her choice of instruments, treatment of text, and aesthetic. The first woman to earn a master’s degree in composition from the Central Conservatory of Music, Chen went on to obtain a degree from New York’s Columbia University. As composer-in-residence to the Women’s Philharmonic, Chen then participated in outreach programs advocating for women in music. Being raised in China, she was not aware of the unequal treatment of men and women in music in the United States. Her exposure through the Women’s Philharmonic to women’s enthusiasm and support for one another was a profound experience for Chen. She explains, “From those education programs (and for me those are education programs), I learned about the history and vision. Responsibility.” Today, she actively encourages and advocates for Asian women composers. Chen currently holds the position of Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor at the University of Missouri–Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. She teaches that a composer should be able to write for diverse ensembles, and her own catalog includes works for orchestra, chamber, voice, and piano. During our conversation, her respect for the teacher-student relationship emerges as she discusses her mentors and her own teaching. In addition to her residencies, awards, and commissions, Chen has served on advisory councils and boards of the American Composers Orchestra, International Alliance for Women in Music, Meet the Composer, and Chamber Music America. She founded the bilingual newsletter Music from China in 1991. Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2005, her numerous awards and fellowships include the Charles Ives Living Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Grammy Award for Chanticleer’s album Colors of Love, the Lili Boulanger Award, New York University’s Sorel Medal, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Elise Stoeger Award, and four honorary doctorates. Chen’s music continues to be commissioned by distinguished musicians and ensembles around the world and is published by Theodore Presser Company. *** CHen YI · 103 may 2010, at her home in kansas City, missouri CHEN YI: Composers should write everything. If you look into history where composers have written everything in different media, then I think a composer is a general word that should include everything. And now you add multimedia. You add electronic music. You add experimental and theater, so I don’t think there is a limitation. JENNIFER KELLY: Is it important for any composer to know how to sing or understand the workings of the voice? CY: Yes. It is a language, and you must study the instrumentation. When I teach instrumentation and orchestration, I include choral. JK: Do you have a favorite medium you like to write for? CY: Not me. I have written everything except for opera. JK: Do you want to write opera someday? CY: Yes, if I have time. No time, actually. You have to be very devoted. You also need concentration. The libretto is more important for me. I’m sensitive to libretto . If it doesn’t work then you are wasting time. JK: That brings up a...