Chou Wen-Chung

Curriculum Vitae

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Personal

Born July 28, 1923, Chefoo (Yantai), China; residence in USA since 1946; naturalized 1958; married, two sons, three grandchildren. Died, New York City, October 25, 2019.

Education

  • Columbia University

    M.A., 1954

  • Private studies with Edgard Varèse

    1949-54

  • New England Conservatory of Music

    B.A., 1946-49

  • National Chunking University

    B.S., 1945

Awards & Honors

  • Honorary Professor of Music at Nankai University, Tianjin, China

    2007

  • Honorary Professor of Musical Composition, Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China

    2004

  • Officier of the Order of Arts and Letters of France

    2000

  • Hong Kong Association of Writers and Artist’s Gold Dragon Award

    1998

  • University of Cincinnati Award for Excellence

    1996

  • Honorary Member, International Society for Contemporary Music

    1994 - present

  • Board Member Emeritus, Yaddo Corporation

    1994 - present

  • Barlow Endowment for Music Composition Commission Grant

    1992

  • John D. Rockefeller 3rd Award

    1992

  • National Endowment for the Arts Consortium Commission Grant

    1989

  • China Institute’s Qingyun (Blue Cloud) Award

    1985

  • Honorary Life Member, Asian Composers’ League

    1981 - present

  • Honorary Board Member, Composers Recordings, Inc.

    1980 - present

  • National Endowment for the Arts Commission Grant

    1975

  • The Koussevitsky Music Foundation Commission Grant

    1973

  • The American International Music Fund Special Citation

    1970

  • Alice M. Ditson Fund Grant

    1969

  • William and Nona Copley Foundation Award

    1966

  • New York State Council for the Arts Commission Grant

    1964

  • National Institute of the Arts and Letters Award

    1963

  • Rockefeller Foundation Grant

    1954

  • American Wind Symphony Orchestra Commissions

    1961 and 1964

  • Guggenheim Fellowships

    1955 and 1956

  • Louisville Orchestra Commission

    1954

Academic Positions

  • Fritz Reiner Professor Emeritus of Musical Composition, Columbia University

    1991 - present

  • Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition, Columbia University

    1984 - 1991

  • Professor of Music, Columbia University

    1972 - 1984

  • Associate Professor of Music, Columbia University

    1968 - 1972

  • Assistant Professor of Music, Columbia University

    1964 - 1968

  • Lecturer in Music, Hunter College

    1963 - 1964

  • Lecturer in Music, Brooklyn College

    1961 - 1962

  • Research Associate in Music, University of Illinois

    1958 - 1959

Administrative Positions

  • Acting Dean, School of the Arts, Columbia University

    1987, June - September

  • Director, Fritz Reiner Center for Contemporary Music, School of the Arts, Columbia University

    1984 - 1991

  • Founder and Director, Center for US-China Arts Exchange

    1978 - present

  • Vice Dean, School of the Arts, Columbia University

    1976 - 1987

  • Associate Dean, School of the Arts, Columbia University

    1975 - 1976

  • Coordinator of Graduate Studies, Music Department, Columbia University

    1974 - 1975

  • Acting Dean, School of the Arts, Columbia University

    1973, January - August

  • Chairman, Music Division, School of the Arts, Columbia University

    1969 - 1989

  • Chairman, Composition Committee, Music Department, Columbia University

    1969 - 1974

Other Academic & Professional Positions

  • Member, Advisory Council on East Asian Art, Columbia University

    1978 - 1987

  • Member, University Committee on General Education, Columbia University

    1978 - 1987

  • Member, University Committee on Oriental Studies, Columbia University

    1978 - 1991

  • Paul Clark Stauffer Visiting Professor, San Diego State University

    1976, October

  • Chairman, Search Committee of Dean of the School of the Arts, Columbia University

    1974 - 1975

  • Visiting Professor, Graduate Composition Seminar, Music Department, University of Pennsylvania

    1974, Spring

  • Member, University Committee on the Arts, Columbia University

    1972 - 1976

  • Member, Presidential Committee on the Arts, Columbia University

    1971 - 1972

  • Administrator, Walter Hinrichsen Award for Composers, Columbia University

    1970 - 1975

  • Composer-in-Residence, Koussevitsky Composer’s Studio, Tanglewood

    1970 and 1971, Summers

  • Guest Composition Teacher, Berkshire Music Center, Tanglewood

    1970, Summer

  • Composer-in-Residence, Festival of the Arts of This Century, East-West Center Honolulu

    1967, Summer

  • Faculty Composer, Bennington Composers’ Conference

    1963 and 1964

  • Composition & Theory Teacher, Horace Mann School, New York

    1962 - 1966

  • Composer-in-Residence, University of Illinois

    1958 - 1959

  • Director, research program on classical Chinese music and drama, sponsored by a Rockefeller Foundation grant, Columbia University

    1955 - 1957

  • Technical Assistant, Electronic Music Laboratory, Columbia University

    1955 - 1957

Site Credits

Administration
Spiralis Music Trust

Website
Design — Concentric, Development — Igicom

Photography
Kimberly M. Wang, Eardog Productions, the Spiralis Music Trust and public domain.