Derrick Wang
American composer and writer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Derrick Wang is an American composer and writer.
Derrick Wang | |
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| Website | https://www.derrickwang.com |
Education
Wang graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College, Harvard University, where he composed works including two musicals for the Hasty Pudding Theatricals.[1][2] He received a master's degree from the Yale School of Music.[1]
Works
Wang came to international attention as the composer and librettist of Scalia/Ginsburg, the opera about United States Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg.[3][4][5] Both justices wrote forewords to Wang's libretto.[6] One chapter of Ginsburg's 2016 book My Own Words consists of excerpts from the libretto,[7][8] narrated and performed by Wang in the audiobook.[9] In 2022, Justice Ginsburg's copy of the Scalia/Ginsburg libretto with a one-page autograph manuscript of her handwritten notes was sold at auction for over US$10,000.[10][11]
In 2024, Opera Delaware premiered Wang's new completion of the opera Turandot, praised as "adept," "respectful," and "seamless."[12][13][14]
Wang's musical drama Fearless, inspired by the life of Women Airforce Service Pilot Hazel Ying Lee, receives its world premiere at Opera Delaware in 2025.[15][16][17]
Wang, a musical dramatist and forensic musicologist, teaches music and law at Johns Hopkins University.[12][18][19]