December 21, 2018 – Bard College announces the appointment of Tan Dun as Dean of the Bard College Conservatory of Music. As dean, Tan Dun will guide the Conservatory  in fulfilling its mission of teaching young musicians both new music and music history, while deepening an understanding of its connection to history, art and culture, and society. He will also help to build synergy between Eastern and Western studies at the Conservatory, ...

November 1, 2018 — On November 11th, 2018, world-renowned artist Tan Dun will open TŌN Orchestra’s (The Orchestra Now) third Rose Theater Season at Lincoln Center. One of the leading cellists of her generation, cello soloist Jing ZHAO will make her Lincoln Center debut in the U.S. premiere of Tan Dun’s Cello Concerto: Intercourse of Fire and Water. As a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and global cultural leader, Tan Dun uses ...

On October 6, 2018, the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performed the Australian premiere of Tan Dun’s new large-scale choral work Buddha Passion. Critics and audiences alike resoundingly praised the piece as a “vivid and approachable epic… [bringing] many in the audience to their feet” for a prolonged standing ovation (Limelight). The orchestra, chorus, and soloists virtuosically realized the challenging combination of eastern and western stylistic elements, and “responded enthusiastically to Tan [Dun’s] clear direction” ...

Hailed as an “astonishing experience of linguistic and musical landscape” (Suddeutsche Zeitung, Dresden) and  “powerful sound epic” (Global Interculture, Dresden), Tan Dun’s Buddha Passion launches from its Dresden world premiere to tour the world. On Saturday, October 6, 2018 Tan Dun will conduct the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra at the Melbourne International Arts Festival. The extraordinary and unique musical work will then continue onto having its Asia Premiere in ...

Launched in 2005, Jecheon International Music & Film Festival (JIMFF) strives to be both a celebration of film set in the beautiful landscapes of Jecheon City and exhilarating music shared and enjoyed by everyone of all generations and musical tastes. The film music composers who left significant marks in the Korean film music industry had been awarded Jecheon Film Music Honorary Award by Jecheon International Music and Film Festival since 2006 to 2016. ...

On May 23rd, Tan Dun will conduct the world premiere of his landmark new work – Buddha Passion at the Dresdner Musikfestspiele at Kulturpalast Dresden in Dresden, Germany. Commissioned jointly by the Dresdner Musikfestspiele, New York Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the piece promises to “takes your breath away” (Dresden Music Festival). This monumental work, sung in Chinese and Sanskrit, is scored for seven soloists, choir and orchestra and will be performed by ...

On March 17th, 2018 Tan Dun will conduct the New Japan Philharmonic in his Organic Music Trilogy at Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan. The concert will also feature the Japan premiere of his Earth Concerto for ceramic instruments and orchestra alongside his Paper Concerto and Water Concerto. On Earth Concerto, Tan Dun states “I am always in belief that earth, like all other natural ...

On Feb 15th, 2018, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts featured renowned Chinese conductor and composer Tan Dun as the highlight of their three-year Lunar New Year celebration. Tan Dun conducted the Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra in a spectacular program. The performance was bookended by two of Igor Stravinsky’s works, opening with Feu d’artifice Op. 4 (Fireworks) and closing with Firebird Suite. The Washington Classical Review, stated that the “first, a colorful and precise read ...

Tan Dun led the London Symphony Orchestra and the award-winning China Trio in the UK premiere of his Martial Arts Trilogy (2011) at the Barbican Centre on Nov. 30th, 2017. Financial Times critic, Richard Fairman, describes the Martial Arts Trilogy concert event as a “success” and the music “varied and imaginative”, stating that the “epic quality and fantasy are clear enough”. Adapted for the concert hall ...

Listen to Tan Dun lead the NDR Radiophilharmonie and percussionist Alexej Gerassimez perform Tan Dun’s Percussion Concerto: The Tears of Nature and Mussorgsky’s classic Pictures at an Exhibition. This week Tan Dun takes the podium in Hannover conducting the NDR Radiophilharmonie to kick off his five-city tour in Germany. Sharing the stage with the dynamic percussionist Alexej Gerassimez, Tan Dun’s program features Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition and his own Percussion ...