Chen Yi (b. 1953)

Chen Yi was born in 1953 in Guangzhou, China. She received degrees from the Central Conservatory in Beijing and from Columbia University, New York. She joined the faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City and served as composer for other entities including the vocal ensemble Chanticleer. Awards and fellowships are numerous.
She has been the Lorena Searcey Cravens/Millsap/Missouri Distinguished Professor in Composition at the Conservatory of the University of Missouri-Kansas City since 1998. Chen has served on the composition faculty of Peabody Conservatory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore (96-98) and has been Composer-in-Residence with the Women’s Philharmonic, Chanticleer, and Aptos Creative Arts Center in San Francisco (93-96), supported by Meet The Composer’s New Residencies Program.

Fellowships have been received from Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, and American Academy of Arts and Letters (Lieberson Award). Honors include the first prize from the Chinese National Composition Competition (Duo Ye for piano solo), the Lili Boulanger Award (National Women Composers Resource Center), the Sorel Medal (New York University), the Alpert Award (CalArts Institute), a Grammy Award, the Eddie Medora King Composition Prize (University of Texas), the 2001 ASCAP Concert Music Award, the 2002 Elise Stoeger Award from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Friendship Ambassador Award from the Snow Memorial Fund, the honorary doctorate from Lawrence University, WI, and the adventurous programming award from the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (for Music From China in New York).