{"id":2626,"date":"2024-04-24T04:59:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-24T04:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bachandnow.de\/composer-in-residence\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T17:36:48","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T17:36:48","slug":"composer-in-residence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bachandnow.de\/en\/composer-in-residence\/","title":{"rendered":"Composer in Residence"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Composer in Residence<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Xiaoyong Chen<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Xiaoyong Chen, born in 1955, is a composer who studied composition at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing from 1980 to 1985 and then worked with Gy\u00f6rgy Ligeti in Hamburg from 1985 to 1989. His work includes both orchestral and chamber music, often incorporating Chinese instruments. Chen’s music is regularly performed at prestigious festivals and concert series across nearly all continents. He composes on commission and collaborates worldwide with orchestras, festivals, and universities. <\/p>

Festivals he collaborates with include the Donaueschinger Musiktage, the Holland Festival, the Pr\u00e9sences Festival in Paris, the World Music Days, the MaerzMusik Festival, the Huddersfield Festival, the Warsaw Autumn, the Cologne Biennale, the Soundstreams Festival in Toronto, and the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival. Orchestras he works with include the Gulbenkian Orchestra, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Munich Philharmonic, the China National Symphony, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, the KBS Orchestra, the Zurich Chamber Orchestra, the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble Modern, Klangforum, the Arditti Quartet, the Auryn Quartet, and the Kairos Quartet. <\/p>

Since 1994, Chen has maintained an intensive collaboration with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, which provides him with generous musical and artistic support. A highlight of his career was a four-hour portrait concert with the NDR Symphony Orchestra Hamburg in 2008. <\/p>

Chen was a professor of composition at the Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik und Theater Hamburg until 2023. Since 2023 he has held a chair in composition at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in China. Guest professorships have regularly taken him to China and other parts of East Asia. He is a member of the Free Academy of Arts Hamburg, and his entire body of work is exclusively published by Boosey & Hawkes-Sikorski. <\/p>

Chen is fascinated by the emergence and development of individual tones. Many of his works begin with seemingly simple sound events that have not yet been shaped by compositional elaboration. For Chen, composing is a form of communication with sound and the discovery of its hidden possibilities. Therefore, his works exhibit an openness that gives the impression that even the composer does not know in advance where the music will lead him. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\tOne can experience music sensually, even if one does not understand its structure.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

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The Interview<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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When people think of composers, they often think of the great names from the past. How would you explain to someone who may have never heard a contemporary piece what a composer actually does today? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>

That\u2019s a good question, and an important one at that. The fact is that we have a limited repertoire of classical music composed in recent decades, and that a music lover cannot hear it all in a single lifetime. What is important for a composer is the ability to express their worldview, understanding, and experience through engagement with or the act of composing in musical form. This is not about increasing the quantity of music, but rather, from a contemporary perspective, about new ideas, new sensations, and personal experiences with the art of music\u2014but also about conveying one\u2019s perception artistically on a higher level. <\/p>

You are composing a new piece for piano, chamber orchestra, and timpani for the festival. Can you give us a glimpse into how this piece is coming together? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>

This instrumentation is partly dictated by the festival. I added the timpani out of personal preference. In recent years, I have been focusing more on what is happening internally within the sound and how I might influence these processes to create a new, cohesive soundscape that forms a unified whole. <\/p>

Is there a connection to Johann Sebastian Bach?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Unfortunately, I wasn\u2019t able to discover Johann Sebastian Bach\u2019s music during my childhood. That doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t like it\u2014it\u2019s due to historical circumstances. I was born in Beijing in the 1950s and grew up there until I began my music studies. His music wasn\u2019t allowed in the 1960s and 1970s, neither on the radio nor in concerts\u2014there was absolutely no opportunity to engage with his music. I didn\u2019t really get to know his music until the late 1970s. After that, I found my musical home in Bach\u2019s music\u2014he is my favorite composer. It\u2019s a mystery, but understandable. His music is universal for humanity and touches my spirit. This is how I see it: My composing is much more closely connected to Bach, even if this is difficult to trace formally, stylistically, and analytically. Music that transcends temporal constraints, religions, and regional and cultural boundaries\u2014that is my wish. <\/p>

You\u2019ve often worked with unusual combinations of instruments in the past. What particularly appealed to you about the piano and timpani combination this time? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>

The timpani are not only powerful; they can also be very colorful, especially when integrated into the string section and combined with it. The piano has a familiar role in classical music, yet the notes in the lower register can sound particularly rich in overtones, almost like the ringing of church bells. From the low to the middle to the highest registers, a crystal-clear, brilliant, imaginative, cloud-like timbre emerges. In combination with the strings and timpani, this can create an entirely new sonic world. <\/p>

What do you hope the audience will feel when they hear your new piece at the festival?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Composers are no different from anyone else\u2014everyone is an individual. What makes composers different or special is their specific main occupation and form of expression: music. If you want to know what a composer does today, the most effective way is to experience their music\u2014to maintain direct contact. This leads to attending a concert, but also to talking with the composer and asking questions. Most composers are eager for new experiences and \u201cbold enough to take risks.\u201d I\u2019d like to emphasize one more thing: composing should not remain isolated, but rather be an integral part of our society. We are in the 21st century. The relationship between composer, work, and audience is different today than it was a hundred years ago. The great composers of that time could not foresee our era. As a listener or someone interested in music, it would be advisable to be a little \u201cwilling to take risks.\u201d Take a look at least once at what composers are doing today\u2014in other words, an \u201cexperiment\u201d could also be a \u201cdiscovery.\u201d <\/p>

Xiaoyong Chen<\/p>

15.11.2025<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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