{"id":97236,"date":"2024-05-03T13:52:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T20:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.allclassical.org\/?p=97236"},"modified":"2026-01-23T12:58:21","modified_gmt":"2026-01-23T20:58:21","slug":"six-aanhpi-composers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.allclassical.org\/six-aanhpi-composers\/","title":{"rendered":"Six AANHPI Composers We’re Celebrating On Air"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In honor of Asian American and Native Hawaiian \/ Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and all year round, All Classical Radio is programming music by AANHPI composers and musicians on our playlist. We love sharing music richly and meaningfully woven with a diverse array of influences, as well as insight into the lives of artists you may not yet know about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading to learn about six groundbreaking artists we\u2019re featuring on air <\/strong>in celebration of AANHPI Heritage Month.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Kosaku<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

K\u014dsaku Yamada (1886-1965)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Japanese composer and conductor K\u014dsaku Yamada pioneered modern Japanese music influenced by European tradition. After attending the Tokyo Music School, Yamada studied composition at the Hochschule f\u00fcr Musik in Berlin. Following his education in Germany, Yamada sometimes used the name \u201cK\u00f3s\u00e7ak,\u201d as a variation of his Japanese name, K\u014dsaku.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a composer, Yamada was exceptionally prolific and wrote more than 1600 works, including opera, orchestral works, chamber music, and songs. Unfortunately, many of Yamada\u2019s manuscripts were destroyed as a result of an air raid targeting Tokyo in May 1945. Listeners will hear the clear influence of German Romanticism in Yamada\u2019s music; yet, he never lost touch with his Japanese identity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Li
Image courtesy of Li Dakang<\/em> via China Plus<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Li Huanzhi (1919-2000)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Li Huanzhi has remained a significant figure among Chinese classical composers. Having grown up exposed to a wide variety of music, Li eagerly pursued a career in the art form from his teens. Despite interruptions to his studies due to war and family obligations, Li never strayed far from his desired path. Much of Li\u2019s music was inspired by regional folk songs and nationalist sentiment. Perhaps most notably, following the founding of the People\u2019s Republic of China, Li\u2019s \u201cThe March of the Volunteers\u201d was chosen as the new National Anthem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Li wrote hundreds of compositions, from symphonic works and opera to songs and choral pieces. His Spring Festival Overture<\/em> remains one of the most frequently performed Chinese works for orchestra.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Toru<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

T\u014dru Takemitsu (1930-1996)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

T\u014dru Takemitsu was a largely self-taught Japanese composer whose music blends modernist Western styles with Japanese traditions and instruments. Takemitsu\u2019s first encounter with Western music came about while serving in the Japanese military during WWII (Western music had been banned in Japan during the war). An officer played the French chanson \u201cParlez-moi d\u2019amour,\u201d which made a deep impression on Takemitsu and kicked off a lifelong love of music by French composers such as Debussy and Messiaen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the late 1950s, Takemitsu\u2019s music began gaining international attention, including one famous incident where Stravinsky heard his Requiem for Strings<\/em> and subsequently declared it a masterpiece. Also in the 1950s, Takemitsu co-founded the \u201cExperimental Workshop\u201d whose mission was to explore avant-garde multimedia projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He Zhanhao; Image courtesy of South China Morning Post<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Chen Gang (b. 1935) & He Zhanhao (b. 1933)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chen Gang and He Zhanhao are both musicians from China best known for co-composing the Butterfly Lovers\u2019 Violin Concerto<\/em>. Born in Shanghai, Chen was the son of songwriter Chen Gexin and grew up learning piano and composition from his father. In 1955, Chen began studying composition at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he would eventually meet fellow student He Zhanhao.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was born in Zhuji and began learning violin at 17 years old. His studies at the Shanghai Conservatory fortuitously overlapped with that of Chen, and the two would soon embark on a life-changing collaboration. In an experiment to adapt Chinese tunes for violin, Chen and He created the Butterfly Lovers\u2019s Concerto<\/em>, based on a centuries-old Chinese folk tale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Qigang
Photo by Hui Liu & Steve Zhao; Image courtesy of Warner Classics<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Chen Qigang (b. 1951)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Born in Shanghai, Chen Qigang was introduced to music at an early age. Despite being imprisoned as a young teen amid the Cultural Revolution and undergoing \u201cideological reeducation,\u201d Chen never lost his passion for creating music. The composer moved to Paris for graduate studies and shortly thereafter began working with Olivier Messiaen. Chen was Messiaen\u2019s last student and studied with the French composer from 1984-88. Messiaen became a committed supporter of Chen\u2019s music and praised Chen\u2019s harmonious union of Asian and Western musical ideas. After receiving a doctorate in musicology from the Sorbonne in 1989, Chen remained in Paris and became a French citizen in 1992.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chen\u2019s music is performed all over the world, earning the composer countless honors and awards. Fun fact: Chen composed the official theme song of the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing called \u201cYou and Me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Karen
Image courtesy of ASCAP<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Karen Tanaka (b. 1961)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Japanese composer and pianist Karen Tanaka began formal compositional studies at 10 years old. After receiving her undergraduate degree from the T\u014dh\u014d Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo, Tanaka moved to Paris with the help of a scholarship from the French government to study with Tristan Murail and work at IRCAM. The recipient of several prestigious awards, Tanaka’s beautifully crafted works have been performed by distinguished orchestras all over the world, including the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Outside the concert hall, Tanaka has also written scores for films and documentaries–her score for Sister<\/em> was nominated for the 92nd Academy Awards for Best Animated Short Film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to being a freelance composer, Tanaka currently teaches composition and experimental sound practices at the California Institute of the Arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn More<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

To keep learning about AANHPI musical artists we love to play on air, check out these posts from the Arts Blog:<\/p>\n\n\n\n