Yuan-kai Bao Contributor

Bao Yuankai (born 1944) is a Chinese composer and music educator whose career has combined composition, teaching, and the promotion of Chinese musical traditions in modern concert forms. Born in Beijing, he entered the Middle School affiliated with the Central Conservatory of Music in 1957, initially studying flute and later composition. In 1962 he entered the Central Conservatory itself, studying composition and theory with teachers including Su Xia, Yang Ruhuai, Chen Peixun, and Duan Pingtai, and graduated in 1967. He joined the faculty of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in 1973 and later served as professor and head of its composition department. Bao has also taught at Nanhua University in Taiwan and served as a distinguished professor and director of the Institute of Art at Xiamen University. His long career as an educator has been recognized with major Chinese honors for contributions to music education.

Bao's music is particularly associated with the transformation of Chinese traditional and folk materials through the forms, techniques, and sonorities of the Western concert tradition. His best-known orchestral work, Chinese Sights and Sounds, is a large collection of twenty-four pieces based on Chinese folk tunes and grouped into six regional suites. His symphonic output includes Symphony No. 1 “Commemoration”, Symphony No. 2 “Sketches of Taiwan”, Symphony No. 3 “Peking Opera”, and Symphony No. 4 “Amoy”, while other works include the chamber-music collection Chinese Melody of the Strings and the oratorio The King Yu. Frequently performed in China and abroad, Bao's music seeks to preserve the melodic character and regional identity of Chinese traditional music while presenting it through contemporary orchestral and chamber idioms.

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Yuankai Bao is a Chinese composer and music educator, who graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in 1967. He has been a professor of the Tianjin Conservatory of Music since 1973. He also serves as the Deputy Director of the Composition Committee of the Chinese Musicians’ Association, the Director of Arts Institute at Xiamen University, and executive member of the China Sun Yat-sen Cultural Exchange Association. He was member of Music Research, one of the major academic journals in the country, as well as a member of the panel of judges for the composition competition “Golden Bell Awards”. In recognition of his dedication and achievements towards music education and composition, Mr. Bao was one of the first music educators to receive the special grant from the Chinese State Council and the “Outstanding Music Educator” Award from the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

Mr. Bao's compositions include Chinese Sights and Sounds: 24 Themes on Chinese Folk Tunes, for orchestra; Sketches of Taiwan, orchestral suite; Symphony No.1 (‘Commemoration’); Symphony No. 2 (‘Sketch of War’); Symphony No. 3 (‘Peking Opera”, Symphony No. 4 (‘Amoy’); and the oratorio The King Yu, performed by the Four Seasons children’s chorus and the Jingpo National Children's Folk Rhyme. His recordings have been released by DG, Philips, and EMI. His artistic achievements have been featured as cover stories by Chinese and international media sources.