Jing Jing Luo

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Luo, Jing Jing a native of Beijing, China, is a prolific composer and performer who was described as one of “the first generation of avant-garde composers… whose music muses over the remote past and then depicts the results of her wealth of reflections…” by the music critic from the Hong Kong Arts Festival. Recently, New York Times critic Steven Smith wrote that her new work “Tsao Shu” was “suspended stark, deliberate daubs, fidgets and jolts against copious silence…”

Luo’s musical language connects East and West and transcends traditional boundaries. She has received a commissioning award from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, twice from Rockefeller Foundation, the American Academy of Arts and Letters award, and dozens of other awards. Luo is celebrated in both her homeland and the West for her distinctive and original musical language. The American Academy of Arts and Letters praised her as “…expressive, a fascinating mixture of sources, and exciting virtuosity. …refining her special language with each new score…”

While Luo tirelessly explores her own rich musical heritage, she accolades the Western contemporary music language with a twist of East and West penetrating each of her works. Her constant struggling between the conflict of an individual’s voice with societal demands becomes a frequent theme reflected in her new works.

Luo’s most recent work, “Tsao Shu”, deliberates the visual paint stroke effects from an ancient Chinese calligraphy technique as a subtle timbral transformation with a sublime timing throughout the piece. It engages and excites performers and audiences.

Luo continues to experiment with the idea of non-structured framework. In her 2010 work, “Lagrimas Y Voces”, the structure was loose, in a sense that it was difficult to ‘grasp’ any motivations through each changing gesture. The inconsistent timbral transformation was furthered by the unique interpretation of each different musical ensemble.

Luo’s interests in electronic and digital media in music brought her to study with the late pioneer Bulet Arel at Stony Brook University. Luo states in one of her essays: “The electro-acoustic sound could associate the most to nature; it enriches and enlarges the sound of nature.”

The Netherlands Dans Theatre commissioned her to work with the dance company of one of the world’s leading Japanese chorographers, Kai Taikei, resulting in “Monologue” Part I and Part II. Percussion plays a vital role in Luo’s work. Luo employed the Shangxi Drum percussion set, an ancient Chinese drumming technique, in the Part II of this large frame of dance work in 1989-1990.

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Education

Jing Jing Luo began her piano studies at the age of 4, and was considered an early childhood prodigy for her extraordinary musical memorization and her piano performance skill. At the age of 7 she won the first prize in the Youth Piano Competition in Beijing. Luo entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as a piano major before shifting her focus to composition, she studied composition and music theory with Professor Chen Gang and Sang Tong, earning her B.A. in 1980.

In 1983 Luo received a fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation as one of the distinguished music visiting scholars to study composition and music theory at Columbia University. She received a music diploma, studying under Chou Wen-Chung and George Edward. The following year she won a full scholarship from the New England Conservatory of Music, where her composition teachers included Robert Cogan and Malcolm Payton. She earned her M.A. there in 1987, and was awarded a full scholarship from Stony Brook University to continued her studies in composition and advanced electronic music with Bulent Arel and Daria Semegen. Ms. Luo earned her Ph.D. at Stony Brook in 1993. In 1986 she was awarded as a part of the Center for Composition Studies at Aspen Music Festival, where she studied under Bernard Rands and Jacob Druckman. She later studied music technology with Tom Lopez and Anna Rubin at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 2001. In addition to music, Luo also received her second mastesrs degree in Education from Cleveland State University in 2009.

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Honors

Among her many honors…

• Commissioning Award from the Koussevitzky Music Foundation (2006)
• Two-time Individual Artist Fellowship recipient from the New York Council on the Arts (1985 and 1987)
• Music Fellowship winner from the Rockefeller Foundation (1982-93),
• Winner of the prestigious residency award in Bellagio, Italy from the Rockefeller Foundation in the summer of 2001
• Third prize winner from the National Symphonic Composition Competition in China (1984), for Piano and Orchestra.
• Third prize in the Fanny Mendelssohn International Composers Competition in Germany (1993), for Mosquito.
• Winner of the ASCAP Plus Awards from 1994 through 2011.
• Five awards of Ohio Arts Council’s Individual Artist Fellowships (1991,92,94, 96, 98).
• Five consecutive individual artist residency awards from the McDowell Colony in 1984-89
• Two residency awards from Yaddo Colony.
• 1995 Winner of the Dale Warland Singers Reading Competition, for An Huan, a Requiem.
• Third Prize in the Chinese Overseas Composer Competition (1996), for No Home to Return
• The Walter Hinrichsen Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1996), for The Spell
• First Prize in the Music From China International Composers Competition for Traditional Chinese Instruments competition (1999), for Slash and Burn
• Honorary Prize in the Competition for Colored Women Composers in Washington, D.C. (2000)
• Third Prize Winner in the International Composers Competition of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (2001), for The Slough
• Winner of Alea III (2004), for Yui, Yui
• Winner of Fortnightly Composition Commission award (2008), for A Thousand Miles Away

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Performances and Commissions

Jing Jing Luo’s music has been performed internationally by notable orchestras and ensembles such as the Beijing Symphony Orchestra, Central Philharmonic of China, China Opera House Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Shenzhen Philharmonic, the Netherlands Dans Theatre, Gaudeamus Music Week in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Tai Pie Philharmonic, San Francisco Women’s Philharmonic, Nieuw Ensemble in Netherlands, Boston Alea Contemporary Ensemble, Continuum, London based Saxophone Quartet, New Juilliard Ensemble, Dale Warland Singers, Music From China, the Ear Play, New Ear Ensemble of Kansas, the Cassatt Quartet, the Contrast Quartet, the Network for New Music of Philadelphia, Xie Liang, Emmanuel Pahu, Claire Chase, Michael Lorimer, Rob Nathanson, Nancy White, Pipa virtuoso Wu Man, singer Mary Chan, Erhu player Wang Guo Wei, Pipa player Min Xiao Fen, Singer Liang Ning, and among others.

Luo also received commissions and awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Netherlands Dans Theatre in conjunct with Gudeaum , Composers Forum in New York, Composers Forum in Minnesota, Meet the Composer, American Music Center Composers Assistant grant, the Mary Flagler Charitable Trust, the Samuel Rosen Memorial Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, Ohio Arts Council, Ear Play, the Commissioning Project of Rochester of New York, Nazareth College Choir Master, Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Music From China, the American Dance Festival, Bowling Green Kei Takei Moving Earth Dance Company, the Fortnightly Club of Cleveland, the Duo Sureno, the Contrasts Quartet, the Harvest Inc., in New York City, and among others.

Her work has been heard at venues such as Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Symphony Space, The Merkin Concert Hall, The Miller Theatre, MoMA, The Players Theatre’s Steve & Marie Sgouros Theatre, WNYC Radio Station, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco, Asia Society, Freer Art gallery in Washington, DC, Netherlands Dans Theatre in Amsterdam, Hong Kong Music Concert Hall, Beijing Music Concert Hall, Shanghai Concert Hall, St. Basilica Cathedral in St Paul, the Jordan Hall in Boston, the Driftless Jazz Festival, Bowling Green New Music Festival, New Ear of Kansas City.

In broadcast, her music has been heard on the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music Electro-Acoustic Music Festival 2009 Radio Program, the Aspen Music Festival, Musik Aus Und Uber China in Wurzburg, Germany, NPR, PBS, CBC, China Central Radio Broadcast, WNYC, Canadian Winnipeg Radio Broadcast and among others have broadcast her music.

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Lectures and Teaching

Luo has been invited to give lectures at a variety universities and conservatories in US, Asia and Europe, Netherlands Contemporary Music Festival, Bowling Green Contemporary Music Festival, Italy Guitar Society Music Festival, Driftless Jazz Festival, Shanghai International Music Festival, American Dance Festival, Lincoln Center Outdoor Music Festival, Winnipeg Symphonic Music Winter Festival. Columbia University, Manhattan School of Music, Stanford university, Mannes College The New School for Music, University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Wesleyan University, University of Missouri Kansas City Conservatory of Music, University of Western Michigan, Julliard School of Music, Ashland University, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Sichuan conservatory of Music, Beijing People’s University, Central conservatory of Music, Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Academically, Luo is especially interested in old and new, the most authentic music from different cultures, such as the use of Modes in compare to Chinese, Japanese and Arabic ancient mode system, the reflection of Pythagorean method in Gu Chin’s Notational Patterns. The interlaced relationship between ancient Chinese ‘Hwaung Jong’ and early Hebrew accents esthetics. She conducted a field trip to research in Buddhist music in Pu Tuo Mountain Buddhist Temple of Southern China in collaboration with the China Conservatory of Music in 1982. Her immense interests in research in the music of Chaya Czernowin, Rebecca Saunders, Helmut Lachenmann, and other European contemporaries.

Luo’s music is partially published by the China National Publishing House, Subito Music Corp, and the C.F. Peters. Recordings have released on New World Records, Michael Lorimer Edition, China Records Co., Innocent Eyes & Lenses of Chicago.

Luo taught composition as the Visiting Professor in Music Composition at Oberlin Conservatory of Music in 2001 through 2004.

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Artwork

Luo is also a visual artist of calligraphy and ink brush painting since a very young age, self-taught but later studying under many of the greatest Chinese artists. Her artwork has been exhibited at numerous art galleries and in many private homes. Last summer, the Ohio Arts Council supported the World-Renowned Calligraphy Exhibition at Mansfield Art Center. Her work has been exhibited at Gingko Art gallery of Oberlin, Corbin Art gallery of Ashland, and The Fava Art gallery of Oberlin, among others. The Ohio Artist Competition has chosen her painting entitled “Moon” as one of their artist awardees in 2008. Luo has taught techniques of traditional Chinese calligraphy at Oberlin’s Fava Education Center and Mansfield Art Center. Luo’s visual work has merged with her music creations in recent years. Her most recent blending of music and art resulted in a new work for calligraphy and music sound installation on stage for Stanford University’s Pacific Music Festival — The Rim of Wire in April 28^th, 2008.