1. Du Yun is a Chinese-born American composer, performer, vocalist and performance artist.
25 Facts About Du Yun
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Du Yun won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera Angel's Bone, with libretto by Royce Vavrek.
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Du Yun was named as one of the 38 Great Immigrants by the Carnegie Corporation of New York in 2018, and received a 2019 Grammy nomination in the category of Best Classical Contemporary Composition for her work Air Glow.
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In 2024, Du Yun was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
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Du Yun began studying piano at the age of four, attending the primary school Shanghai Conservatory of Music for piano.
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Du Yun studied composition at the middle school Shanghai Conservatory of Music with Deng Erbo.
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Du Yun later moved to the United States and graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition, under Randolph Coleman, and received a Ph.
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On her earlier years growing up in Shanghai, Du Yun recounted, in her contribution to WQXR, that neither of her parents went to college and both were factory workers in China.
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When Du Yun studied in junior high school in Shanghai, she collected cassette tapes from singer Faye Wong, Chen Sheng, Dou Wei, Pink Floyd and Michael Jackson.
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Du Yun said her music not only has the background of classical music, but is multifaceted, influenced by pop and folk music.
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Du Yun won the Pulitzer Prize for Music for her opera Angel's Bone in 2017, making her the first Asian woman to win this prize in music.
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In 2006, Du Yun joined the composition faculty at the State University of New York-Purchase.
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From 2014 to 2018, Du Yun was the Artistic Director of the MATA Festival in New York City.
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An avid performer, Du Yun's engagements include the 2018 Lahore Biennial, the 2012 Guangzhou Art Triennial, the National Academy Museum, the inaugural Shanghai Project.
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Du Yun leads her band Ok Miss, which exists as both rock band and chamber music ensemble.
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Du Yun uses her whole name, Du Yun, not Du, for professional and personal uses.
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Du Yun's works include compositions for solo instruments, electroacoustic music, chamber music, orchestral works, opera, indie pop, punk, theatre, oral tradition music, sound installations, and performance art pieces.
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Du Yun has written for the New York Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the LA Philharmonic, and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, as well as solo artists Hilary Hahn and Matt Haimovitz.
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Du Yun is the composer of the musical Dim Sum Warriors, based on a graphic novel and bilingual iPad app series about Kung Fu-fighting dumplings by the Singaporean filmmaker, satirist, and cartoonist Colin Goh and Yenyen Woo.
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Du Yun has done works for the Guangzhou Triennial, The Shanghai Project, Cordoba Contemporary Arts Center, and the Sharjah Biennial.
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Du Yun is an advocate for women, racial equality and social justice.
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Du Yun founded and curated the Pan Asia Sounding Festival at National Sawdust in March 2018, as part of the Spring Revolution.
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Du Yun started a global initiative, FutureTradition, to advocate folk arts and promote cross-regional collaborations.
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Du Yun has been selected by NPR as one of the 100 most influential young composers under 40 in 2011.
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Du Yun was named one of the top 35 female composers in classical music by The Washington Post.