ABSTRACT
Although Chou is also active in various artistic and cultural pursuits that include scholarship (with contributions on Varèse, Chinese music, cross-cultural issues, and contemporary music), education, and cultural preservation, his major calling has always been composition. As a composer, Chou has produced a group of works whose stylistic innovation and technical profundity are particularly distinctive among composers of his generation. His music, which includes solo, chamber, and orchestral works, has been performed at major venues around the globe, and has received critical acclaim from critics and colleagues. These works document his creative journey, especially in the realization of re-merger-the fusion of Eastern and Western music to become a new mainstream in art music. Therefore, close study of Chou’s music is essential in understanding his aesthetic orientation, his compositional technique, his role in the development of new music, and his influence on the younger generation of composers.
