Described as “evocative and kaleidoscopic” and “beautiful and gripping”, the music of composer Dorothy Chang reflects an eclectic mix of musical influences ranging from popular and folk music to elements of traditional Chinese music. Many of her works are inspired by place, time, memory, and the question of cultural identity.

Dorothy’s catalog includes over eighty compositions with a particular interest in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration, including works for mixed Chinese and Western ensembles as well those involving staging, movement, theatre and dance. Her interest in cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration has led to some of her favourite projects including: a radio play adaptation of Gertrude Stein’s White Wines for four vocalists and speaking percussionist; a double concerto Gateways for PEP (Piano and Erhu Project), Flying White (飞白) for mixed Chinese and Western ensemble with Wen Wei Dance; and Shelter, a collaboration with harpist Janelle Nadeau and filmmaker Sean Shaul. Her most recent orchestral work, Precipice, was commissioned by the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and performed as part of the orchestra’s 2023 US tour to the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall.

Dorothy’s music has been featured in concerts and festivals across North America and abroad, with performances by the Albany Symphony, Calgary Philharmonic, Houston Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, Montreal Symphony, New Jersey Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Toronto Symphony, Vancouver Symphony, Vancouver Island Symphony and Victoria Symphony Orchestras, as well as by chamber ensembles including the Chai Found Music Workshop (Taiwan), Chicago Saxophone Quartet, Collage New Music, eighth blackbird, the Emily Carr String Quartet, Land’s End Ensemble, Music from China, the Orchid Ensemble, PhoeNX Ensemble, the Smith Quartet, Sound of Dragon, Soundstreams, Standing Wave, Turning Point Ensemble, and the Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra, among others.

Awards and honours that Dorothy has received include a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, the International Alliance for Women in Music, the National Society of Arts and Letters, Meet the Composer and the Jacob Druckman Orchestra Prize from the Aspen Music Festival. She has received commissions from the Canada Council of the Arts, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Barlow Endowment, Chamber Music America, and the Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust. For the 2003-04 and 2005-08 seasons, Dorothy held a Music Alive composer residency with the Albany Symphony Orchestra. In 2008 she was awarded the inaugural commission from the Women’s Philharmonic Commissioning Project of Meet the Composer for a new orchestral work, Strange Air, which was premiered at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music by Marin Alsop and the festival orchestra. Her work Beyond Shadows was nominated as “Best Classical Composition” for the 2015 Western Canadian Music Awards. Her flute concerto Flight received a 2022 JUNO Award nomination for Best Classical Composition. That same year, she won the Western Canadian Music Awards “Classical Composer of the Year”, and was nominated again in the same category in 2024.

In 2003, Dorothy joined the music faculty at the University of British Columbia, where she is currently a Professor of Music. www.dorothychang.com

WATCH: PEP (Piano & Erhu Project) performs Dorothy Chang’s “Four Short Poems.” With Nicole Li (erhu) and Corey Hamm (piano).