Xing-Kui Zeng Zeng, Xing-Kui
Xing-Kui Zeng studied in the Department of Music at National Taiwan Normal University from 1968 to 1972. In 1977, on a Ministry of Education government scholarship, Zeng went to study at the Musikhochschule Freiburg in Germany (Musik Hochschule im Freiburg/Germany) with Professors K. Huber and B. Ferneyhough, receiving the Artist’s Diploma (Pruefung der Kuenstlerische Reife) in 1981 before returning to teach in the Department and Graduate Institute of Music at National Taiwan Normal University. In 1986/87, on a French government scholarship, Zeng carried out research at IRCAM, and in the same year received a diploma in film composition from the École Normale de Musique de Paris (Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris).
Zeng’s works have been performed at the Gaudeamus Music Week in the Netherlands (1981/84, ASKO Ensemble), the Alkmaar Music Festival (1990), the Asia Pacific Music Festival in Seoul (1990) and the Asia Pacific Music Festival in Sendai, Japan, as well as in the United States, Germany and France (Presents 1996 2E2M). Portrait concerts were held at the Cité internationale des arts (Cite des Arts) in Paris in 1987 and in Rome in 1998. In March 2002 Zeng presented concerts of choral works at the Hsinchu Municipal Performance Hall and at the Chung Cheng Arts Hall of the Pingtung County Cultural Affairs Bureau; in September 2004, a concert of choral works at the Hsinchu Performance Hall commemorated the fifth anniversary of the 921 Earthquake; in April 2005 the orchestral work “Lu E from the Book of Songs” (詩經蓼莪) was premiered at the National Concert Hall in the concert “Qingming in the Book of Songs” (詩經的清明); and in 2006 the National Symphony Orchestra commissioned “Song of Life” (生命之歌) for orchestra and four-channel electronic music, premiered in May 2007 at the National Concert Hall by the National Symphony Orchestra under US-based conductor Mei-Ann Chen.
In 2002–03 Zeng was a Fulbright visiting scholar (Fulbright Schoolship) in the United States, a visiting scholar at Stanford University, and a visiting scholar and guest composer at the University of North Texas. Zeng served three terms as President of the Computer Music Association of the Republic of China (1999–2002 and 2005–2007). After retiring from National Taiwan Normal University in 2005, Zeng was appointed Professor in the Department of Information and Communication at Kainan University. In October 2007, Zeng was invited to present the work “Super Conflict” (超級衝突) at the Copenhagen – Malmoe Festival and to lecture at the Malmö Academy of Music in Sweden; in June and October 2008, “Fantasia on Green Island Serenade” (綠島小夜曲綺想) was performed at the Salle Messiaen of Radio France and at the concert hall of the Beijing conservatory. On 3 and 13 December 2008, Zeng presented a full-length portrait concert, “New Interfaces of Music” (音樂新界面), at the National Recital Hall, and in 2009 organized and hosted the 5th International Workshop on Computer Music and Audio Technology (5th WOCMAT).
Zeng’s awards include first prize at the Ville d’Avray Composition Competition in France (1984) and the Grand Prize at the 3rd International Organ Composition Competition (1986).