Sinyan Shen is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 physicist

Physicist

A physicist is a scientist who studies or practices physics. Physicists study a wide range of physical phenomena in many branches of physics spanning all length scales: from sub-atomic particles of which all ordinary matter is made to the behavior of the material Universe as a whole...

 and classical composer.

Life

Born in Singapore

Singapore

Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

 to the parents of Shanghai background, Sinyan Shen studied music at very early age and mastered the vertical fiddle family of instruments. His dual career in music and physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 culminated in the development of cultural acoustics, a discipline addressing scientifically the cultural molding of our ears and brain to music. Shen's life work centers on the essence of music.

Shen taught cultural acoustics at Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 and Harvard University

Harvard University

Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

. He is music director of the Silk and Bamboo Ensemble and the Chinese Classical Orchestra. Both ensembles have toured internationally under the auspices of the Chinese Music Society of North America

Chinese Music Society of North America

The Chinese Music Society of North America was organized in 1969 and was officially founded in 1976 as a federal non-profit international organization to increase and diffuse the knowledge of Chinese music and performing arts...

, but have not performed publicly since 2006. Shen is editor of the international journal Chinese Music, music authority for the Encyclopædia Britannica

Encyclopædia Britannica

The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...

 and a Fulbright Scholar. He serves as technical adviser for the Shanghai Musical Instrument Factory.

Works

Shen's works include A Tune of Southern Anhui and Moon over the Western Water (for silk and bamboo ensemble), Lily Blossoms Crimson and Bright (for Chinese classical orchestra) and The Stream (vocal). He is the author of What Makes Chinese Music Chinese?, Foundations of the Chinese Orchestra, Acoustics of Ancient Chinese Bells, Chinese Music and Orchestration: A Primer on Principles and Practice, China: A Journey Into Its Musical Arts and Chinese Musical Instruments.

Orchestral works by Shen Sinyan:

• A Tune of Southern Anhui
• Moon over the Western Water
• Lily Blossoms Crimson and Bright
• The Stream
• Clouds and Mists over the Xiao and Xiang Rivers (XiaoXiang ShuiYun)
• Wild Geese Descending on the Sandy Shores
• Ambush on All Sides
• Wailful Wrath by the River (Jiang He Shui)
• Music at Sunset
• Flower and Moon over the Spring River
• Days of Emancipation
• By the Qiantang River
• Listen to the Pine
• The Moon on High
• The Dance of Yao
• Song North of the Border (Sai Shang Qu),
• Galloping on the Prairie
• Ma-An Mountain Overture,
• Moon Over the Mountain Pass
• The Moon Mirrored in Erquan
• Jasmine Blossom
• Birds Return to the Woods
• Moderately Embellished Six Measures
• Wedding Processional
• Purple Bamboo Melody
• Unforgettable Water Splashing Festival
• Spring at the Emerald Lake
• Rain Falls on the Plantains
• The Little Cowherd
• Plum Blossom (Meihua Sannong)
• The Great Wall
• Fishing Song of the East China Sea
• Fantasy on the Sanmen Gorge
• The Dagger Society Suite
• Receiving My Kinsmen
• On the Prairie

External links

• Gateway to The Chinese Classical Orchestra