Wenchen Qin Wenchen Qin

Professor of Composition and doctoral supervisor at the Central Conservatory of Music; Distinguished Professor at the China Conservatory of Music.

Wenchen Qin was born in October 1966 in Ordos, Inner Mongolia, and began studying Chinese folk instruments at the age of nine. In 1987 he entered the composition department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, studying with Zhu Jian’er and Xu Shuya, among others. After graduating in 1992 he joined the composition faculty of the Central Conservatory of Music, where he still teaches. In 1998, with funding from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), he was sent by the Central Conservatory of Music to Germany to study with composer Professor Nic. A. Huber, returning to China in 2001.

Qin is one of the most influential composers of the younger generation in China. In recent years he has received commissions from many international music institutions, including the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, Bavarian Radio and the Beethovenfest Bonn. More than 70 renowned orchestras and ensembles in China and abroad have performed his works around the world. Major works include the orchestral works “Resonance of Meaning” (意韻, 1991), “Symphonic Prelude” (交響前奏, 1994), “Cold Drum” (寒鼓, 1996), “Sounds of the Boundary” (際之響, 2001) and “The Holy Path in May” (五月的聖途, 2004); “Layered Echoes” (迭響, 2004) for sheng, clarinet and orchestra; the cello concerto “Dawn” (黎明, 2008); “Dialogue with Mountains and Waters” (對話山水, 2010) for tape and orchestra; the suona concerto “Calling Phoenix” (喚鳳, orchestral version, 2010); and numerous chamber works, including “Union” (合一, 1998/99), “Secluded Song No. I” (幽歌Ｉ號, 1990), “Secluded Song No. II” (幽歌II號, 1990), “Five Songs on the Horizon” (地平線上的五首歌, 2005), the series “The Shadow of the Sun” (太陽的影子, 1987–) and “Sounds That Awaken Memory” (喚起記憶的聲音, 2006–), and “Toward the Distance: 30 Chamber Works for Chinese Instruments” (向遠方－為中國樂器而作的30首室內樂曲集, 2010/11). Qin is a contracted composer of the internationally renowned Sikorski Musikverlag and is currently the only contracted composer of Beijing Jingwen Records. Between 1993 and 2002, seven of his works won prizes at international composition competitions held in Germany, the United States, Japan and Taiwan. His other honors include the Fok Ying Tung Young Teachers Award, the Ministry of Education’s New Century Excellent Talents support, and the Ministry of Culture’s Ou Yongxi Outstanding Music Education Award, and he was selected for Beijing’s “Four Batches” talent program.