Ensemble 212
2011-12 Composer in Residence
Huang Ruo

The Composer in Residence Program is a vital part of Ensemble 212's commitment to the living nature of our art. It provides an avenue to bring to light the work of a living composer of stature throughout the season and also to engage the contemporary music community at large. The Composer-in-Residence is an established composer who works with Ensemble 212 throughout the season by coaching performances of his/her work, presenting their work through discussions, panels and serving on committees to recommend works by other living composers for programming at the discretion of the Artistic Director. A commission is also awarded to the Composer-in-Residence to compose a new work especially for Ensemble 212.

This season's Composer-in-Residence is Chinese-American composer Huang Ruo.

Recently awarded First Prize by the prestigious Luxembourg International Composition Prize, HUANG Ruo has been cited by the New Yorker as “one of the most intriguing of the new crop of Asian-American composers.” His vibrant and inventive musical voice draws equal inspiration from Chinese folk, Western avant-garde, rock, and jazz to create a seamless, organic integration using a compositional technique he calls “dimensionalism.” Huang Ruo’s writing spans numerous genres from classical and modern dance, to sound installation, multi-media, folk rock, and film. Ensembles who have premiered and performed his music include the New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and under conductors such as Wolfgang Sawallisch, James Conlon, Dennis Russell Davies, and Xian Zhang. Huang Ruo has received awards and grants from the ASCAP Foundation, Presser Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Argosy Foundation, Greenwall Foundation, Meet The Composer, Chamber Music America, American Music Center, Aaron Copland Award, and Alice M. Ditson Award. He has collaborated with New York City Ballet’s principal dancers and choreographers, in addition to kinetic painter Norman Perryman. In 2003, Miller Theatre featured Huang Ruo on its Composer Portraits series, where his four chamber concertos were premiered as a cycle with him conducting. New York Times critic Allan Kozinn listed this concert as the second on the list of his “Top Ten Classical Moments of 2003.” Huang Ruo’s Chamber Concerto Cycle was released by Naxos; Leaving Sao, a work for orchestra and Chinese Folk Voice, was released on Albany Records with his own singing in 2008; and Divergence came out on Koch International in 2009.  His latest CD To The Four Corners, performed by Future In REverse, was recently released on Naxos. Huang Ruo’s film credits include soundtracks for I.M. Pei Building China Modern, Jian-Fu Garden and Stand Up. Huang Ruo has been an invited lecturer and forum presenter at New York University, Columbia University, Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and Guangzhou Conservatory of Music. He was also a visiting composer at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the University of Georgia. Huang Ruo was born in Hainan Island, China, in 1976, the year the Chinese Cultural Revolution ended. His father began teaching him composition and piano when he was six years old and received both traditional and Western education at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, admitted into its composition program, at the age of twelve. As a member of the new generation of Chinese composers, he clearly knows that his goal and task is not just to mix both Western and Eastern elements, but to go beyond that to create a seamless integration and a convincing organic unity, drawing influences from various genres and cultures. After winning the Henry Mancini Award at the 1995 International Film and Music Festival in Switzerland, he moved to the United States to further his education. Since then, he earned his Bachelor of Music degree from Oberlin and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in composition from Juilliard. His composition teachers have included Randolph Coleman and Samuel Adler. Huang Ruo is currently a member of the composition faculty at SUNY Purchase. He is the artistic director and conductor of Future In REverse (FIRE), and was selected as a Young Leader Fellow by the National Committee on United States–China Relations in 2006. For more information visit: www.huangruo.com

Previous Composers in Residence:

Mohammed Fairouz, 2010-11 Season