Background
Du was born in Shanghai, China.
杜韻杜韵
Du was born in Shanghai, China.
She studied composition at the middle school Shanghai Conservatory of Music. Du later moved to the United States and graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and received a Doctor of Philosophy in music composition from Harvard University.
She began studying piano at the age of four, attending the primary school Shanghai Conservatory of Music for piano. In 2006, Du Yun joined the composition faculty at the State University of New York-Purchase. Du"s works have been performed internationally in venues such as Carnegie Hall, the Guangzhou Opera House, the Salle Pleyel Paris, the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Escola de Música do Estado in São Paulo Paulo, the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in Germany.
She has written for the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players and solo artists Hilary Hahn and Matt Haimovitz.
In 2014, Du was named the Artistic Director of the MATA Festival in New York City. Du has collaborated with visual artists Shahzia Sikander and David Michalek, flutist Claire Chase and Chinese Kunqu artist Qian Yi.
Du is regarded as one of China"s leading young composers and has been described as an "adventurously eclectic composer" and "an indie diva with avant garde edge" by The New York Times.