East Meets West
Chen Gang
Composer
Chen (b.1969) was born in Jiangxi Province in Southeast China and shares a similar name to that of the composer of the famous “Butterfly Lovers” Violin Concerto.
Chen entered the middle school of the Central Conservatory of Music in 1982 and began his composition studies with Li Binyang in 1985. Upon graduation, Chen was accepted into the composition department
of the Central Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Xu Zhenming and Du Mingxin (the distinguished composer of the famous Model Ballet, Red Army Attachment of Women).
In 1993 he graduated and continued his post-graduate studies, completing his Master’s degree in Orchestration in 1995. In 2003 Chen was selected by the Ministry of Education to attend master classes with Walter Zimmermann at the Universität der Künste, Berlin. Upon receiving his certificate, Chen returned to China where he continues his teaching orchestration and composition at the Central Conservatory of Music.