Xi Wang

Since arriving in the U.S. from her native China in 2001, Xi Wang has pursued a whirlwind of musical activities that have made her a rising star in new music. Her unique fusion of Asian and Western instruments and techniques with theatrical and choreographic elements has captivated audiences. Her original concert music has been performed worldwide by notable orchestras and ensembles such as the Philadelphia Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Voices of Change, and Soli Chamber Ensemble, among others.

Xi Wang is the recipient of the Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet the Composer, New Music USA and American Music Center, a MacDowell Colony residency, and seven prizes from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). She has been nominated for the Grawemeyer Award, BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award, Stoeger Prize from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, and Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin.

Xi Wang has received commissions from the Philadelphia Orchestra, Albany Symphony, League of American Orchestras, World Association for Symphonic Bands and Ensembles, Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, Voices of Change, Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra, and Soli Chamber Ensemble, among others. She was the sole recipient of the 2006-2007 Robbins Family Prize in Music Composition for her exceptional merit and promise as a composer at Cornell University. Her Music for Piano, Percussion and Wind Ensemble was one of the 21 obligatory pieces (selected from over 700 band pieces submitted from over 50 countries) for the 2010 Coups de Vents International Band Competition in France.

As a conductor, Xi Wang has conducted a number of premieres of her own compositions as well as music by her colleagues. She performs as a solo pianist as well as a chamber music player.

Xi Wang’s music education started at the age of five. She received her B.M. from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, M.M. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and D.M.A. from Cornell University. Currently, she is an associate professor at the Meadow School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University, where she received the Rotunda Award for Outstanding Teaching.