Bio

Hailed as “inventive and breathtaking” by the New York Times, Fang Man is a Chinese-born American composer who has received education in China, the United States, and Europe. Her musical prowess is shaped by the harmonious fusion of Eastern and Western traditions, resulting in a captivating and innovative style. Drawing inspiration from the rich tapestry of traditional Chinese operas and instrumental music, she fearlessly incorporates these elements into her compositions. Through her artistry, Fang bridges cultural divides and creates an evocative musical landscape. Over the years, she has developed a keen interest in interdisciplinary art, involving dance, visual arts, film, opera, and theatre.

Her music has been performed worldwide by notable orchestras and ensembles such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra New Music Group, Camerata Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Mannheimer Philharmoniker, Basel Sinfonietta, American Composers Orchestra, Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, National Orchestre de Lorraine, Minnesota Orchestra, Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra, Aldeburgh Symphony Orchestra, Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Baldwin-Wallace Symphony Orchestra, USC Wind Ensemble, Prism Saxophone Quartet, Dolce Suono Ensemble, Ensemble UnitedBerlin, Cassatt String Quartet, Music from China, among others.

With a generous grant from the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, her large-scale Sheng (Chinese mouth organ) concerto "Song of the Flaming Phoenix" was commissioned by the San Francisco Symphony and League of American Orchestras, and premiered by Sheng virtuoso Wu Wei and conducted by SFSO's esteemed director Esa-Pekka Salonen in the 2021-2022 season. In 2019-20, she was featured as the composer-in-residence with the Mannheimer Philharmoniker under Boian Videnoff in Germany for their 2019-20 season to celebrate the orchestra's 10th Anniversary, which includes performances and recordings of her orchestral works.

She is the recipient of a Charles Ives Fellowship (2024), Guggenheim Fellowship (2012), Koussevitzky Foundation Commission (2010), Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra Association Commission, an Underwood/ACO Commission, Toru Takemitsu Award (Japan), Opera America Discovery Grant, the National Endowment for the Arts Award, Siemens Berlin Music Foundation Commission, NewMusicUSA Commission, the 47th UWRF Commissioned Composer, Dolce Suono Ensemble Mahler-Schoenberg Project Commission, Prism Saxophone Quartet/Music From China Commission, USC Provost Grant, Bank of America Gallery Commission, the Darmstadt Stipend-Prize-Award, SACEM Scholarship (France), SC Arts Fellowship, Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship, Frank Huntington Beebe Fellowship, Music from China Award, among others.

She has been invited to new music festivals such as the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence, Centre Acanthes (France); Darmstadt New Music Festival, Festival Blurred Edges, Global Ear Festival, Sinus~Ton Festival (Germany); Gaudeamus Music Week (the Netherlands); Cabrillo Festival, Aspen Music Festival, June in Buffalo, and Bowdoin Summer Music Festival (USA), among others. She was invited as a resident composer at the Hermitage Artist Retreat in Florida, Aldeburgh Music Centre (UK), and Civitella Ranieri Music Foundation (Italy).

Fang's primary teachers include Steven Stucky and Roberto Sierra at Cornell University, where she obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts degree. She was chosen to participate in the one-year Computer Music and Composition courses at IRCAM-Paris, where she studied composition with Brian Ferneyhough, Jonathan Harvey, Mikhail Malt, Yan Marez, and Tristan Murail. She also studied with Richard Toensing and Michael Theodore at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Before she moved to the United States, she won the first place to enter the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with DU Ming-Xin and YE Xiao-Gang and obtained a Bachelor of Music degree. Prior to Beijing, she studied with CAO Guang-Ping at the Affiliated Middle School of the Guangzhou Qinghai Conservatory of Music.  

Fang Man is currently an Associate Professor of Composition and Composition Program Coordinator at the University of South Carolina School of Music. She previously held positions at the Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music and Duke University.  

Education

• Cornell University, Doctor of Musical Arts
• IRCAM - Centre Pompidou Paris, Certificate of Composition and Computer Music
• Cornell University, Master of Fine Arts
• Beijing Central Conservatory of Music, Bachelor of Music

Appointments

• University of South Carolina, Associate Professor of Music
• Baldwin-Wallace Conservatory of Music, Composer-In-Residence/Assistant Professor
• Duke University, Visiting Assistant Professor of Music

Research Interests

• Opera and Theatre
• Computer-Assisted Music Composition and Analysis, Electro-Acoustic Music
• Orchestration
• Music and Visual Arts, Film Music
• Chinese Music and Chinese Instruments

Teaching

• MUS 726 the Music of Lutosławski
• MUS 724 Contemporary Styles
• MUS 315 Soundtracks and Scoring
• MUS 316 and 416: Music Composition I & II
• MUS 516, 716 and 816 Individual Composition
• SCHC 367/MUSC 726: Chinese Music and Instruments