Today we’d like to introduce you to Yan Pang.
Yan, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
My journey began in China. I went to the University of Minnesota, where I received my Ph.D. in Music Composition, with a minor in Theatre Arts and Dance. Upon graduating, I taught music composition at St. Olaf College and the University of Minnesota. I’m currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at the Point Park University Conservatory of Performing Arts.
My journey as a composer is dedicated to making music for theatrical productions. My work amplifies the voices of those living in marginalized communities that historically were silenced and ignored, and is embedded in the conflicts regarding their concerns and interests.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There were some struggles along the way. As a first-generation immigrant and a woman of color, I had encountered Racism and Xenophobia, Sexism and Misogyny, and Sexual Harassment. I decided to write an opera about the immigrant experience. I have chosen to compose anopera that focuses on this topic because majority of citizens of America all are immigrants from different lands. We or our ancestors left our home and comfort behind and came here to chase our dream. Our experience is not an uncommon story but is unique. We want this work to be a framework for the voices who are silenced, appropriated, and stereotyped to be their autonomous selves across cultures.
Sample/teaser link for One Mother’s Children opera: https://youtu.be/X5lOcJg7mvg
Next opera One-Log Bridge is going to be premiered at Willamette University: https://events.willamette.edu/event/one-log-bridge/
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My work focuses on inter-cultural music composition and performance, blending Chinese folk music elements with Western operatic traditions, as a means to build a multicultural understanding of the complexity of social dynamics inherent in notions of resilience, race, solidarity, immigration, and settlement challenges. As part of this interest, I have been commissioned to compose and invited to perform at music festivals throughout the world.
A selection of my varied publications includes
-the album Glory Times (as songwriter and music director) by the China Scientific & Cultural Audio-Video Publishing Company,
-the scores “Nowhere Home” and “The Others” by Contemporary Music Score Collection 2020, UCLA, the peer-reviewed paper “Scene of Sichuan Opera” (co-author with Mingzhu Song),
-and the textbooks Cool Math for Hot Music, All About Music, Basic Music Technology, and The Future of Music (co-authored Guerino Mazzola et al.) by Springer.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love working with our creative community here in the Twin Cities and sharing our joy with MN audience. I like that the Twin Cities is full of creative and kind human beings. The long winter is what I like least about our city. Because I grew up in Sichuan, southwest part of China where I’ve only seen snow once in my lifetime.
Pricing:
- Artists Career Consultation – $100/h
- Composition Lesson – $150/h
- Piano Lesson – $150/h
- Guest Lecture – $150/h
- Composition Commission – $3000/5 mins piece
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yanpangcomposer/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/YanPangCreateLLC/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/pang_yan
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrh_Uu8lM0YlcEWRtaIq9Sw/videos
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/yan-pang
- Other: https://www.pointpark.edu/academics/schools/copa/copadeptsmajors/theatre/faculty/yanpang
Image Credits
Alice Gebura
Alexandra Wattamaniuk
Bill Cameron
