ABOUT KWAN LEUNG
Kwan Leung LING 凌君亮 is a Hong Kong–born composer and performer whose work bridges traditional Chinese music, contemporary composition, electronics, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. His primary instrument is the suona, a traditional Chinese double-reed instrument that he began studying at the age of ten. Shaped by his Hong Kong upbringing, Ling’s music reflects a city alive with cultural intersections, international energy, and sonic diversity. His artistic practice explores the fusion of multicultural musical languages and the relationships between sound, memory, identity, and place.
The sounds of nature and everyday life are central to Ling’s compositional process. Rooted in the traditions of Chinese music, where natural sound and poetic imagery often shape musical expression, Ling approaches composition as a form of listening, gathering, and transformation. He collects found objects, records their unique sonic qualities, and uses these materials to expand his musical imagination. Through this process, ordinary sounds become the foundation for new textures, gestures, and sonic environments.
Collaboration has been a vital part of Ling’s artistic journey. He has worked with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, SPLICE Ensemble, Trio Mythos, Duo Entre-Nous, the UMKC Graduate Fellowship String Quartet, and many other artists and ensembles. As a performer, Ling has appeared as a suona, guanzi, bili, and clarinet player in performances and projects including A Sedan Chair for the Bride: The Wonderful Winds of Guo Yazhi concert, Portraits of America with the Scottsdale Concert Band, Cat’s Cradle, CalArts’ Ok Composer Concert, CalArts Sonic Boom, the Vinny Golia Large Ensemble, Beirut Orchestra’s music video project, SPLICE Ensemble x UMKC Composers’ Guild, and performances at the Charlotte Street Foundation.
Ling’s interdisciplinary work includes collaborations beyond the field of music. His collaboration with Filipino/Singaporean filmmaker Brian Yulo Ng on the documentary film 24 was nominated and screened at seventeen film festivals between 2019 and 2022. His work Midden for suona and fixed media was selected for the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival in 2022.
In 2022, Ling commissioned ten composers to create new works for suona and Western instruments as part of a week-long event exploring the evolution and contemporary use of the modern suona. During the event, Ling and Guo Yazhi premiered and workshopped these new pieces. That same summer, Ling performed as a bili and suona soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in a work for five ancient Chinese instruments and orchestra composed and conducted by Tan Dun.
Ling is deeply committed to artistic exchange and the discovery of new creative perspectives. He participated in the HighSCORE Festival, where he attended master classes with Helmut Lachenmann, Christopher Theofanidis, Toivo Tulev, Dmitri Tymoczko, Amy Beth Kirsten, and Sarah Kirkland Snider.
Ling holds a BFA in Composition from California Institute of the Arts, as well as an MM and DMA in Composition from the University of Missouri–Kansas City. He has served as a teaching assistant in composition, director of the Improvisational Music/Media Performance Ensemble, and adjunct instructor at the University of Central Missouri. His work moves fluidly between inherited tradition and contemporary soundscape, weaving together instrumental composition, electronics, improvisation, and cross-media practice in pursuit of resonance, dialogue, and cultural connection.
Curriculum Vita – Kwan Leung LING