Zihua Tan

Zihua Tan is a Malaysian‐born Canadian‐based composer whose works have been
performed in Asia, Europe and North America, at events such as Ferienkurse für Neue Musik
Darmstadt (DE), Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik (DE), Montréal/Nouvelles Musiques
Festival (CA), Voix nouvelles de Royaumont (FR), the Tongyeong International Music Festival,
TIMF (KR), Akademie Schloss Solitude (DE), Inaudita Festival (IT), Neue Musik Nacht,
HfMudK Frankfurt (DE), Young Composers in Southeast Asia Competition & Festival (TH),
Neue Horizonte at Sinfonieorchester Basel (CH), École d’Art Américaines de
Fontainebleau (FR), Divertimento Workshop (IT), Accès Arkea (CA), Composit Festival (IT),
Studio musikFabrik Project (MY, SG and TH), Beijing International Composers’ Workshop
(CN), Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance’s Finale Concert (US), 32nd ACL Festival
(JP), and Kuala Lumpur Contemporary Music Festival (MY). Some of the ensembles he has
worked with include Ensemble Mosaik, Ensemble Recherche, Ensemble TIMF, Ensemble
SurPlus, Studio musikFabrik, Ensemble L’Arsenale, Divertimento Ensemble, Internationale
Ensemble Modern Akademie, Ensemble Wapiti, Ensemble Horizonte, Ensemble Schallfeld,
Ensemble Arkea, Contempoartensemble, the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, McGill
Contemporary Music Ensemble, and the McGill Symphony Orchestra. He has also worked
with conductors such as Enno Poppe, Peter Veale, Erich Wagner, and Sandro Gorli.
In 2017, Tan's orchestral work, "at the still point", will be performed by the Tokyo
Philharmonic Orchestra at the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award. In the past, he has won
several grants and awards, including the "Goethe Award" at the TIMF (with his piece,
"Walking on the Mångata"), as well as other prizes at Accès Arkea, the Young Composers in
Southeast Asia Competition & Festival, HSBC Young Composers Competition, and the Ton de
Leeuw International Composition Competition.
Over the years, Tan has also been exploring the sonic possibilities of non‐Western ‐
such as guzheng and gayageum ‐ and unconventional instruments. He began to explore
theatrical, situational and spatial elements in "Silent Spring" for six percussions and
“remnants present,” written for Noam Bierstone. At present, thanks to an award from the
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Music Media and Technology (CIRMMT), Montréal,
he's collaborating with a percussionist and kinetic sculpture artist in an interdisciplinary
project.
Currently, Tan is pursuing a doctoral degree as well as lecturing at McGill University,
Montréal, Canada. Prior to becoming a composer, he worked as a semiconductor design
engineer. He holds an engineering degree with honours from the University of Michigan,
Ann Arbor.
Tan is one of the founding members of the Society of Malaysian Contemporary
Composers (SMCC). He serves as the secretary of SMCC and, together with his colleagues, is
active in organizing contemporary music events in Malaysia and the Southeast Asia region.
In music and in life, Tan is perpetually intrigued by the impermanent and nondualistic
nature of being, as well as the strength of fragility.