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With a vast repertoire that spans classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions, composer Tan Dun has left an indelible mark on the world’s music scene.
In this video titled “Composing Myself,” he explains how he has been drawn to the avant-garde, from Beethoven and Wagner to contemporary composers such as Philip Glass and John Cage. “My instrument is the orchestra,” declares Tan Dun, who won an Oscar for his score of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” (2000), which the Chicago Symphony Orchestra will perform in two CSO at the Movies concerts Jan. 10-11.
Along with the Oscar, Tan Dun has won a Grammy Award, the Grawemeyer Award, Bach Prize, Shostakovich Award and Italy’s Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement. He has had his music played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on radio and television.
Born in 1957 and raised in a Hunan village in the People’s Republic of China, Tan Dun found his life irrevocably changed by Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). He was sent to plant rice alongside local farmers in the Huangjin commune; after two years, a boat carrying a traveling Peking opera troupe capsized, resulting in the death of many of the musicians. Tan Dun was called to serve as a violinist and arranger for the troupe.
Following the end of the Cultural Revolution, China reopened its Central Conservatory. Among thousands of applicants, Tan Dun was one of only 30 selected to attend. In 1986, he moved to the United States, where he soon immersed himself in the music of John Cage, Steve Reich and New York City’s avant-garde scene.
"It’s surreal," says Tan Dun in this video of his life experiences. "Going from a rice field to Hollywood is a huge difference. To get the Oscar, getting accepted by the huge film crowd — that’s good proof of boundaries being broken.
“The Oscars brought so many young people to my music. That’s the future, and I always want to embrace that.”
