TAN DUN Portrait

The UNESCO global Goodwill Ambassador, world-renowned conductor/composer TAN Dun follows in the footsteps of his musical icons composer/conductor’s Mahler and Bernstein, in that his composing guides his conducting and his conducting simultaneously shapes his composing. He has made an indelible mark on the world's music scene with a creative repertoire that spans the boundaries of classical music, multimedia performance, and Eastern and Western traditions. A winner of today's most prestigious honors including the Grammy Award, Oscar / Academy Award, Grawemeyer Award for classical composition, Musical America's Composer of The Year, Bach of Germany Prize, and Moscow’s Shostakovich Award, TAN Dun's music has been played throughout the world by leading orchestras, opera houses, international festivals, and on the radio and television. As a conductor, TAN Dun has led the world's most esteemed orchestras, including the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Berliner Philharmoniker, Orchestre National de France, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Filharmonica della Scala, Münchner Philharmoniker, the Santa Cecilia Orchestra and Melbourne Symphony. As a global cultural leader, TAN Dun uses his creativity to raise awareness of environmental issues and to protect cultural diversity. In 2010, TAN Dun served as “Cultural Ambassador to the World” for World EXPO Shanghai. TAN Dun’s individual voice has been heard widely by international audiences. In recent seasons, his percussion concerto, The Tears of Nature, for world famous soloist Martin Grubinger that premiered last year with the NDR Symphony Orchestra and Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women - (symphony for 13 microfilms, harp and orchestra) co-commissioned by the Philadelphia Orchestra, Japan’s NHK Symphony and Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam. His first Internet Symphony, which was commissioned by Google / YouTube, has reached over 23 million people online. His Organic Music Trilogy of Water, Paper and Ceramic has frequented major concert halls and festivals. Paper Concerto was premiered with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the opening of the Walt Disney Hall. His multimedia work, The Map, premiered by YoYo Ma and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, has toured more than 30 countries worldwide. Its manuscript has been collected by the Carnegie Hall Composers Gallery. His Orchestral Theatre: The Gate was premiered by Japan’s NHK Symphony Orchestra and crosses the cultural boundaries of Peking Opera, Western Opera and puppet theatre traditions. Other important recent premieres include Four Secret Roads of Marco Polo for the Berlin Philharmonic and Piano Concerto “The Fire” for LANG Lang and the New York Philharmonic. TAN Dun was commissioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to write the Logo Music and Award Ceremony Music for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.
Recently, TAN Dun has been appointed as Honorary Artistic Director of China National Symphony Orchestra.