Chinese Composer Lei Liang To Visit Baylor Oct. 8

by Richard Veit

Chinese composer and pianist Lei Liang will make a rare public appearance at 8 p.m. Monday, Oct. 8, in Meadows Recital Hall. Eight of his own works will be performed, featuring four Baylor University musicians, a guest artist and the composer himself.
Lei Liang studied composition at the New England Conservatory of Music and earned a bachelor's degree in 1996 with high academic honors and distinction in performance. He was the recipient of the George Whitefield Chadwick Medal, the highest honor that the conservatory bestows to an undergraduate. In 1998 Lei Liang completed his master's degree in composition at the New England Conservatory, and was named a Junior Fellow at the Society of Fellows at Harvard University--the highest international honor bestowed by the university to a young scholar-artist. In 2000 Lei Liang was offered an Honorary Professorship from the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, China.
Lei Liang's compositions have been performed in China, Germany, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Taiwan and the US. He received commissions from the Asia Center of Harvard University on the occasion of its inauguration, from the Heidelberg Philharmonic, Pro Musicis, shakuhachi master Reian Bennett, and the Boston First Night Millennium Celebration Project.
Appearing in this concert will be virtuoso guanzi soloist Bao Jian, who has performed throughout Asia and Europe. The guanzi is a Chinese wind instrument comprised of a whistle, a fixer and a tube with eight holes.
From the Baylor faculty, performers will include professor of cello Gary Hardie, professor of saxophone Michael Jacobson, and assistant professor of piano Brian Marks. A percussion work will be played by Kenneth Schell, a graduate student from Iowa Park.
This concert is free of charge and open to the public. For more information, call the Baylor School of Music at 710-3991.