Sansan Chien (; 1 July 1967 – 24 October 2011) was a Taiwanese composer of

contemporary classical music Contemporary classical music is Western art music composed close to the present day. At the beginning of the 21st-century classical music, 21st century, it commonly referred to the post-1945 Modernism (music), post-tonal music after the death of ...

. Chien was well known in Taiwan for her teaching of music theory and composition.

Early life and education

She was born 1 July 1967 in

Changhua Changhua (Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: ''Chiong-hòa'' or ''Chiang-hòa''), officially known as Changhua City, is a county-administered city and the county seat of Changhua County in Taiwan. For many centuries the site was home to a settlement of ...

, Taiwan, and grew up in the

Taichung Taichung (, Wade–Giles: '), officially Taichung City, is a special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in central Taiwan. Taichung is Taiwan's second-largest city, with more than 2.85 million residents, making it the largest city in Ce ...

area. When she was fifteen, her family moved to the United States, settling in Sylvania, Ohio where she completed her high school education. She then earned a

Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...

degree in piano performance from the

University of Toledo The University of Toledo (UToledo or UT) is a Public university, public research university in Toledo, Ohio, United States. It is the northernmost campus of the University System of Ohio. The university also operates a Health Science campus, ...

Department of Music (1989), a master's degree in music composition from the

Ohio University Ohio University (Ohio or OU) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus in Athens, Ohio, United States. The university was first conceived in the 1787 contract between the United States Department of the Treasury#Re ...

School of Music (1991), and a

Doctor of Music The Doctor of Music degree (DMus, DM, MusD or occasionally MusDoc) is a doctorate awarded on the basis of a substantial portfolio of compositions, musical performances, and/or scholarly publications on music. In some institutions, the award is a ...

degree in music composition from the

Jacobs School of Music The Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana, is a music conservatory established in 1921. Until 2005, it was known as the Indiana University School of Music. It has more than 1,500 students, approximately half of whom ar ...

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

(1997). During the time of her studies at Indiana University she became a naturalized US citizen, but opted to retain her ROC (Taiwan) citizenship as well.

Career

Chien was a full-time assistant professor of music theory and composition at the

National Kaohsiung Normal University The National Kaohsiung Normal University (NKNU; Kaohsiung Normal University), was founded in 1967. It is a public university located in Lingya District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The university has two campuses namely Ho-Ping and Yan-Chao. The Universit ...

Department of Music from 1997 to 2011. Previously, she was a part-time instructor of music composition at The

University of Indianapolis The University of Indianapolis (UIndy) is a private United Methodist Church-affiliated university in Indianapolis, Indiana. It offers Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. It was founded in 1902 as Indiana Central University an ...

and an associate instructor of music composition and related courses at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

Jacobs School of Music. She was much appreciated by the many students she taught, especially those at National Kaohsiung Normal University. She was also instrumental in helping to organize the music curriculum at NKNU and dramatically improved the level of music theory and music composition instruction there. Together with her husband, Paul San Gregory, a composer and professor of music, they created an intense and encouraging learning environment that has benefited many NKNU graduates. For many years they also created and directed the Contemporary Chamber Ensemble at NKNU, which was the only university-run new music ensemble in Taiwan at the time.

Death

Sansan Chien died at the age of 44 on Monday, Oct. 24, 2011, in Chang Geng Memorial Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, following a difficult struggle with cancer.Bellevue Gazette obituary for Sansan Chien posted by Sally Boyd on October 28, 2011.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chien, Sansan 1967 births 2011 deaths Taiwanese classical composers Taiwanese women classical composers People from Changhua County Ohio University alumni University of Toledo alumni Indiana University faculty University of Indianapolis faculty Jacobs School of Music alumni Taiwanese emigrants to the United States Naturalized citizens of the United States American women classical composers American classical composers American women academics 21st-century American women