Biography
Litang SHAO, born in Guangzhou, and lived in Hong Kong for many years, is currently living in the UK and is a lecturer of Composition and Music theory at the Cardiff University School of Music, previously taught at The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou.
Deeply influenced by traditional Chinese culture, a predominant feature of SHAO’s music is inspired by the beauty of Chinese arts and culture and the exploration of the possibilities of the Chinese instruments in her pieces. Her music has been described as ‘ evocative’ by audiences.
She earned her PhD in Music Composition with a full studentship from The University of Hong Kong under the supervision of Dr. Joshua Chan and obtained her master’s degree in music composition at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts with the Lions Joseph Koo Music Foundation Compositional Scholarship as well as a bachelor’s degree at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in Guangzhou with National Outstanding Scholarship and title of outstanding graduates. She also received the Postgraduate Diploma in Education from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and has been awarded the Academic Performance Award.
SHAO was one of the selected young composers in the “Young China -Ten Talented Composers” Chamber Music Festival in Germany, the third prize recipient of the 7th Con Tempo New Chamber Music Composition Competition presented by the Central Conservatory of Music, the Special Prize Award in the Liu Tianhua composition competition held by Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Best Instrumental Music Award in the LingNan Music Annual Best Composition Competition 2015, finalist in the New Generation Composition Competition in Hong Kong. Her music ‘Abstruse Ancient Sound’ for two violins has been published in the compact disc series New Music from the Ancient Empire in Germany.
SHAO’s works have been performed and featured in several music festivals and commissions , of which examples include Beijing Modern Music Festival, “Young China -Ten Talented Composers” Chamber Music Festival in Germany, Musicarama Hong Kong, “Music from the Heart” held by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Chinese Composers’ Festival, and the Intangible Cultural Heritage concert at Guizhou Province, to name a few. She has also collaborated with various international ensembles, such as the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Orchestra, Windpipe Chinese Music Ensemble, National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan, Guangdong National Orchestra, Yuanyang Chinese Music Ensemble of Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Szymanowski Quartet in Warsaw, Sonar Quartet in Germany and many more.
SHAO has also served as the chief secretary of Hong Kong Association for Music Educators, and a member of the Hong Kong Composers Guild (HKCG) as well as the Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (CASH). Also, previously was the music committee member of the Hong Kong School Music-Speech Association.
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邵麗棠出生於廣州，後移居香港，現定居英國，於卡迪夫大學音樂學院任教作曲及音樂理論,曾任教於香港大學，香港演藝學院及廣州星海音樂學院。她創作的音樂深受中國傳統文化的影響，並致力在音樂創作中探索中國樂器音色發展的可能性。她的音樂被觀眾形容為“令人回味的樂韻”。
畢業於香港大學音樂系，獲得音樂哲學（作曲）博士學位，師隨陳錦標教授，亦以優秀畢業生及第一名成績於廣州星海音樂學院取得音樂學士學位（作曲理論），及獲得國家獎學金的榮譽，隨後於香港演藝學院獲頒音樂碩士（作曲）學位，並於就讀期間獲頒發顧家輝音樂基金作曲獎學金。她也於2020年獲香港中文大學頒授學位教師教育文憑，並獲頒學術優異獎2018-2020。
邵氏曾獲選為德國“Yong China”中國10位青年作曲家室樂音樂節其中一位年輕作曲家；憑中樂五重奏作品《論書四則》曾榮獲由中央音樂學院舉辦之“第七屆中國Con tempo 新室內樂作曲比賽”三等獎，作品其後亦獲選由香港中樂團主辦的“心樂集”作品徵集音樂會。除此，中樂作品曾獲年上海音樂學院主辦的劉天華中樂室內樂作品比賽優秀作品獎；廣東省音樂家協會主辦的嶺南音樂年度最佳作品獎；香港作曲家聯會主辦的“音樂新一代”作品比賽入圍作品等。作品《玄古》亦灌錄成唱片並在德國發行。
邵氏作品亦獲邀於不同的本地及海外的音樂節演出，例如北京當代音樂節，德國“Yong China”室內音樂節，Musicarama音樂新文化，中樂團“心樂集”作品徵集活動等。與此同時，她也熱衷與多個著名演奏團體合作，如Szymanowski四重奏，香港創樂團，香港中樂團，北京中央音樂學院“遠輰”中樂室樂團，竹韻小集等。
除了發表作品，邵氏也熱心社會音樂發展，她現時擔任香港音樂教育家協會秘書長，香港作曲家聯會及香港作曲作詞家協會會員，亦曾擔任兩年香港學校朗誦及音樂節協會音樂委員。