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Lei Liang, Peking Opera Soliloquy
Peking Opera Soliloquy (for alto saxophone) is based on a story told by my friend, the Chinese composer Mo Wuping. During the Cultural Revolution, a woman decided to take revenge on the local party official who had killed her husband. She did so by wailing like a ghost at dusk in the mountain behind the official’s residence. Months later, both the official and herself went insane. Mo Wuping was working on an opera based on this story when he suddenly passed away in 1993. In this piece, elements borrowed from the declamatory style of singing in Peking Opera, extended techniques on the saxophone as well as special lighting are incorporated in a dramatic performance to tell the underlying story. It was written in memory of my friend.
Lei Liang was born in Nov. 1972 in China. He started learning the piano at age 4 and began to compose original pieces at age 6. He is the winner of numerous awards in China both for his composition and piano performance. Among them, the “Special Distinction Award” was given to him at the Xinghai Piano Music Competition for his piano works when he was 12. His compositions became required repertoire for the Xinghai National Piano Competitions in 1984, 1987 and 1988. Lei Liang won the Second Prize for piano performance at “Jing-Jin-Hui (i.e. Beijing, Tianjin and Canton) Musical Performance Competition” in 1988. In 1989, Lei Liang was named one of the ten “Persons of the Year” of Beijing by Beijing Youth Daily.
Upon his arrival in the United States in 1990, Lei Liang gave piano recitals in Austin, Texas, and was featured as a soloist at the San Antonio Art Festival. Starting from 1992, Lei Liang studied composition with Prof. Robert Cogan at the New England Conservatory of Music and received the bachelor’s degree in 1996 with high Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance. He was the recipient of the George Whitefield Chadwich Medal, the highest honor that the Conservatory bestows to an undergraduate, as well as the Tourjée Alumni Scholarship Award. In 1998 Lei Liang completed his master’s degree in composition at the New England Conservatory, and was appointed a Junior Fellow at the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. Lei Liang was named an Honorary Professor of Composition and Sound Design at the Wuhan Conservatory of Music, China in 2000. In 2002, he was selected a Paul & Daisy Soros Fellow. Lei Liang is currently persuing a Ph.D. at Harvard University, studying with Bernard Rands.
Lei Liang’s compositions have been performed by groups including the Heidelberg Philharmonic in Germany, Pro Musicis, ALEA III, the New England Conservatory Chamber Singers, the New Music Ensemble of Bowling Green State University, the Contemporary Music Ensemble of West Virginia University, among others. His music has been performed in China, Germany, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Korea, Taiwan and the United States. 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. Lei Liang’s compositions have been performed by noted performers including saxophonist Ken Radnovsky, violinist Masuko Ushioda, conductor Thomas Kalb of Heidelberg Philharmonic, guzheng player Wang Chang-yuan, kayagum player Ji Aeri, guanzi player Bao Jian and pipa player Gao Hong. Lei Liang’s music has been choreographed by Chu Ling, Jeong-Ae Yoon, Yu Li-jia and Masashi Harada. He has also created multi-media projects with architect Jong-Jin Kim and designer Kyung Hwa Lee.
Lei Liang’s piano compositions are published by Huayue Music Publishing in Beijing. His music is included in several editions of “Anthologies of Chinese Piano Music,” published by the People’s Music Press in Beijing. These pieces are widely performed in China today and are part of the National Piano Certification Repertoire. Lei Liang has been invited to give lectures and performances at the Central Conservatory in Beijing, Shanghai Conservatory, Xi’an Conservatory, Wuhan Conservatory, the Chinese Conservatory, the Normal College in Hangzhou and Tsinghua University. He also lectured and performed at Wheaton College, Baylor University, Phillips Exeter Academy, and was a guest composer at Bowling Green State University and at Baylor University. His articles appear in Sonus, Huangzhong, Renmin Yinyue and Beijing Qingnianbao.
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