Strange Air 8.2.08

Dorothy Chang b. 1970, Winfield, Illinois

Described as "evocative and kaleidoscopic" (Seattle Times), the music of composer Dorothy Chang reflects her musical interests ranging from traditional Chinese to contemporary Western art music, with a more recent interest in interdisciplinary works involving video, still imagery and movement.

Chang’s music has been commissioned and performed by ensembles throughout North America and abroad, most recently at the Summergarden Festival at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the PAN Music Festival in Seoul, the Lontano Festival in London, and World Music Days in Hong Kong. Recent premieres include Waiting for large chamber ensemble, written for the Dogs of Desire in collaboration with video artist Kyra Garrigue; Along the River of Stars inspired by classical Chinese poetry from the Tang Dynasty, premiered in May 2008 by the Albany Symphony Orchestra under conductor David Alan Miller; and a spatial work for brass ensemble, Aurore, commissioned by the Vertical Orchestra in Vancouver, British Columbia. She has also been awarded a commission from the Canada Council for the Arts for a multimedia work to be premiered in 2009 by the Orchid Ensemble, an internationally renowned Chinese music ensemble.

Awards and honors that Chang has received include a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP Morton Gould Award, and awards from the International Alliance for Women in Music, the National Society of Arts and Letters, Meet the Composer, Chamber Music America, the Barlow Endowment, and the Jacob Druckman Prize from the Aspen Music Festival for her orchestral work Sunan Dances. Most recently, she was awarded the inaugural commission from the new Women’s Philharmonic Commissioning Project of Meet the Composer for a new orchestral work to be premiered at the Cabrillo Festival in August 2008.

Chang was awarded two Music Alive composer residencies with the Albany Symphony Orchestra for the 2003-04 and 2005-2008 seasons. Works premiered by the orchestra include Short Stories (1998/2004), Chamber Variations (2004) and Flight: Concerto for Flute and Orchestra (2005-06), with additional performances of her music by the Indianapolis Symphony, Queens Symphony Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra. As co-founder and composer for the Riverbed Theatre Company, she has collaborated on experimental image-based productions in Chicago, Santa Barbara, Vancouver and Taipei, Taiwan.

Born in Winfield, Illinois, Dorothy received degrees in composition from the University of Michigan and the Indiana University School of Music. Since 2003 she has served as Assistant Professor of Music at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Photo by: Brian Hawkes Photographic, Inc.