Current Bio

Jen Wang (b. 1980) writes music that ranges from patient, single-minded sonic explorations to elaborate games with fractured, transformed musical narratives, influenced by her study of tai chi and Deep Listening, her love of Jorge Luis Borges and science fiction, and her pursuit of strange and compelling sounds. Her work combines a love of timbral exploration (originating from her work with electronics) with a melodic sensibility (drawn from her experience as a viola da gamba player and a singer).

Jen's work has been featured at the Wellesley Composers Conference (The Garden of Forking Paths, conducted by James Baker), the International Computer Music Conference (Spaces Between, performed by Onix Ensamble), the Bang On A Can Summer Institute (The Memory Gardens, conducted by Brad Lubman), the California EAR Unit Residency at Arcosanti (This Empty and Luminous Room, performed by the California EAR Unit), the Music '03 and '04 festivals, and the SPARK Festival (velocity).

Jen has enjoyed longstanding creative collaborations with a number of gifted musicians and other artists, including the Berkeley Contemporary Chamber Players (David Milnes, conductor), electro-acoustic chamber ensemble NeXT Ens, and flutist Janet McKay. Her commissions include works for the Iktus Percussion Quartet (Renderings of Things We Couldn't Take Home), the UC Berkeley Chamber Chorus (Sanctus), Janet McKay (Searchlight Songs), NeXT Ens (Spaces Between), and Cristhian Rodriguez (Angeles). Her first installation work, Black Cloud (for streaming data and electronics), had its premiere as part of Panorama, an evening-length multi-media performance featuring choreography by Merce Cunningham and Lisa Wymore.

This summer, Jen will be in residence at the MacDowell Colony and the Millay Colony of the Arts, beginning work on her first opera and a chamber work for mezzo-soprano Mary Nessinger. Other upcoming projects include a theater work for synthetic vocalization equipment in collaboration with actor/vocalist Caitlin Marshall, and a work for orchestra. A graduate of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (M.M.) and Carleton College (B.A.), she is currently pursuing her doctorate at the University of California, Berkeley, studying with Edmund Campion and Ken Ueno.