P.Q. Phan

composer

P.Q. Phan was born in 1962 in Đà Nẵng, Vietnam. Since 1976, while studying architecture, he taught himself to play the piano, compose, and orchestrate. In 1982, he immigrated to the United States and began his formal musical training. He earned his DMA in Composition and a second Masters degree in Ethnomusicology from University of Michigan.

During his more than 35 years of composing, P.Q. Phan, a Rome Prize winner, has written more than 100 works, including two grand operas, a requiem, more than 10 symphonic works, 6 concertos, 10 works for chamber orchestra, and a large song cycle for mezzo soprano and chamber orchestra. His music has been performed in the most prestigious halls throughout the globe, including Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Concertgebouw, Sydney Opera Hall, Takemitsu Opera Hall, and Ha Noi Grand Hall.      

Dr. Phan has received numerous commissions, including from the American Composers Orchestra, Ensemble Alternance, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony, the Greater East Lansing Symphony, the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Indiana University, the Kronos Quartet, the Samaris Piano Trio, etc.

Recently premiered by the IU Opera Theater, his grand opera The Tale of Lady Thị Kính  was hailed as “…this first-of-its kind operatic retelling of Our Benevolent Buddha … can be compared with a finely cut gemstone whose beauty reveals itself through the eye of the beholder.” He recently completed A Vietnamese Requiem, a 35-minute work for 4 vocal soloists, chorus and chamber orchestra, employing Vietnamese Buddhist text, and dedicated to the approximately 10 million Vietnamese victims of wars in the 20th Century.

A frequent guest composer and lecturer in Asia, Dr. Phan Quang Phuc is Professor of Music in Composition at Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University. He has previously taught at University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and at Cleveland State University.