Bun-Ching Lam

Composer Bun-Ching Lam was born in 1954 in Macao. First trained as a pianist, she earned a bachelor's degree in performance from the Chinese University in Hong Kong. Upon receiving a scholarship from the University of California, San Diego, in 1976, Lam moved to the U.S. and began composing under the tutelage of Robert Erickson, Pauline Oliveros, and Roger Reynolds. She received a Ph.D. in composition in 1981. From then until 1986, she taught at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. Lam now lives in New York, where she works with such Chinese musicians as pipa virtuoso and composer Wu Man, tenor Chen Shi-Zheng, and is also active in Chinese Shadow Theater. In fact, her second release, The Child of God, is comprised of three compositions based on Chinese texts, including shadow opera (with English narration). Lam has received numerous grants — including the Rome Prize for Composition — as well as fellowships from the NEA, Meet the Composer, and the New York Foundation for the Arts. She has been commissioned by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, and Swiss percussionist Fritz Hauser, to name a few. Lam's works have been featured at prestigious venues and festivals worldwide, from Carnegie Hall to Aspekte. Mixing Eastern and Western traditions, Bun-Ching Lam's music can be heard on two releases on the Tzadik label.