Xi Wang (; born 1978) is a Chinese composer based in the United States. A 2024

Guggenheim Fellow Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon individuals who have demonstrated d ...

, she is Associate Professor of Music Composition and Theory at the

Meadows School of the Arts The Algur H. Meadows School of the Arts is the fine arts unit at Southern Methodist University, located in University Park, Texas, U.S. It is known for its programs in advertising, art, art history, arts administration, cinema, performing arts, jou ...

Biography

Xi Wang was born in 1978 in China. She began studying music when she was five, eventually culminating in her admission to the

Shanghai Conservatory of Music The Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCMusic) is a municipal public college in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the City of Shanghai and is part of the Double First-Class Construction. The college was founded on November 27, 1927. The Sh ...

, where she obtained her Bachelor of Music degree. In 2001, she emigrated to the United States, where she obtained her Master of Music degree at the

University of Missouri–Kansas City The University of Missouri–Kansas City (UMKC or Kansas City) is a Public university, public research university in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. UMKC is part of the University of Missouri System and has a UMKC School of Medicine, medic ...

, and she continued her graduate studies at

Cornell University Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...

, where she obtained her Doctor of Musical Arts degree and won the 2006-2007 Robbins Family Prize in Music Composition. In 2009, she became part of the faculty of

Southern Methodist University Southern Methodist University (SMU) is a Private university, private research university in Dallas, Texas, United States, with a satellite campus in Taos County, New Mexico. SMU was founded on April 17, 1911, by the Methodist Episcopal Church, ...

, where she eventually became Associate Professor of Music Composition and Theory at the

. In addition to teaching, she also works as a composer and pianist, with her genre being Asian-Western

fusion music A music genre is a conventional category that identifies some pieces of music as belonging to a shared tradition or set of conventions. Genre is to be distinguished from musical form and musical style, although in practice these terms are sometim ...

. In 2015, her composition ''Tibet Fantasia'', one of many inspired by Tibetan music, premiered at Dallas City Performance Hall with the cooperation of local music ensemble

Voices of Change Voices of Change is a professional chamber music ensemble based in Dallas, Texas, United States. Voices of Change performs small ensemble works by 20th- and 21st–century composers. History Voices of Change was founded in 1974 by pianist Jo Bo ...

. Another composition, ''Year 2020'' (2024), was inspired by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. She also works as a conductor for composition premieres, including on her own works. In 2011, she was a

MacDowell Colony MacDowell is an artist's residency program in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The program was founded in 1907 by composer Edward MacDowell and his wife, pianist and philanthropist Marian MacDowell. Prior to July 2020, it was known as the MacDo ...

Fellow in Music Composition. She won the 2012 Charles Ives Fellowship. In 2024, she was appointed a

; she later announced that she would study

Tibetan culture Tibet developed a distinct culture due to its geographic and climatic conditions. While influenced by neighboring cultures from China, India, and Nepal, the Himalayas, Himalayan region's remoteness and inaccessibility have preserved distinct ...

and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

as part of a research trip there as part of the Fellowship. Xi is based in the

Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex The Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, officially designated Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Texas and the Southern United States, ...

. Xi prefers the Chinese tradition of placing the surname before the given name.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xi, Wang 1978 births Living people 21st-century Chinese composers Chinese women composers Chinese pianists Chinese women pianists Chinese conductors (music) Chinese women conductors (music) Shanghai Conservatory of Music alumni University of Missouri–Kansas City alumni Cornell University alumni Southern Methodist University faculty Chinese emigrants to the United States People from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex MacDowell Colony fellows