Name Sinyan Shen | Role Physicist | |
Books Chinese Music in the 20th Century | ||
Sinyan Shen (Chinese: 沈星扬; born 1949) is an American physicist and classical composer.
Contents
Life
Born in Singapore 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 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 and Harvard University. 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, but have not performed publicly since 2006. Shen is editor of the international journal Chinese Music, music authority for the Encyclopædia Britannica 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: