Lucia Hwong

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Born
OccupationComposer
MotherLisa Lu
Lucia Hwong
Lucia Hwong and her Pipa (a Chinese lute), January 2012
Lucia Hwong and her Pipa (a Chinese lute), January 2012
Born
OccupationComposer
MotherLisa Lu

Lucia Hwong is an American composer and instrumentalist. She has created music for theater, film, television,[1] dance and the concert stage.[2]

Hwong was born in Hawaii and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her grandmother was a grande dame of Chinese opera and her mother is international actress Lisa Lu. Her first public performance was in concert, playing the pipa, an ancient Chinese lute, at the age of six. She studied ethnomusicology, theater and dance at UCLA and Columbia University from 1978 to 1982, graduating with a B.A. degree cum laude in ethnomusicology.

She has chaired philanthropic events for organizations including the Women's Project,[3] American Theatre Wing,[4] Asia Society and Parrish Art Museum[5] and has been on committees such as Southampton Hospital.[6]

She was married to investment banker Peter Gordon (1942–2020), with whom she had two daughters.[7][8]

Compositions

Her music for theater includes the scores for the Tony Award-winning Broadway production of M. Butterfly and Tony-nominated Golden Child; as well as David Henry Hwang's New York Shakespeare Festival presentations of Sound and Beauty and The Dance and the Railroad and the Obie Award-winner FOB.[9] She composed the music for Iago and Venus Voodoo at Lincoln Center.

Hwong also scored the Mark Taper and McCarter Theatre premieres of Anna Deavere Smith's Twilight: Los Angeles 1992[10] and created a 12-tone fugue for Joyce Carol Oates' The Perfectionist.[11] Among her dance scores, Fierce Attachments debuted at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Next Wave Festival.[12] She also scored Ali MacGraw's Yoga Mindbody and created music for the Guggenheim Museum's Soho video wall.

Her music for television and film include Hiroshima (NBC), Vietnam War Story (HBO), Forbidden Nights (Tiananmen Square massacre) (ABC), Paper Angels (Angel Island) (PBS), Jennifer's in Jail (girl gangs) (Lifetime), Lotus (women's emancipation in China) (AFI),[13] Who Killed Vincent Chin? (racial murder) (1998 Oscar nomination: Best Documentary) and Silverlake Life: the View from Here (AIDS), honored with Sundance Film Festival and Peabody awards.

Concert pieces include The Unwelcome and Rhythm of Your Pulse, commissioned and performed by the Women's Philharmonic.

Her two albums, House of Sleeping Beauties and Secret Luminescence were released on the Private Music label. The Goddess Trilogy CDs of new-age music were released on her own label, Goddess Music, and received a Visionary Award in 2000.

Discography

Theater
Year Production Role Notes
1998 Golden Child Composer, Incidental Music Broadway New York
1993 Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 Composer, Arranger, Performer McCarter Theater, Princeton, NJ
The Perfectionist
Twilight: Los Angeles, 1993 The Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles Music Center
Snake in the Vein Blank Theatre Company, New York, NY
The Perfectionist McCarter Theater, Princeton, NJ
1992 The Big One Shot Composer, Performer Naked Angels Theatre, New York, NY
1989 Venus Voodoo Composer, Arranger, Performer Lincoln Center, New York, NY
M. Butterfly Composer, Arranger Westbury Theatre, London
1988 M. Butterfly Composer, arranger, On-Stage Music Director O'Neill Theatre, Broadway New York
1983 Sound and Beauty Composer, Arranger, Performer New York Shakespeare Festival
1981 The Dance and the Railroad Composer, Music Director, Performer
1980 F.O.B.
Iago Composer, Played Desdemona Mitzi Newhouse Theater - Lincoln Center (NY);
1979 Inner City Cultural Center (LA)
Film
Year Title Role Notes
2010 Giving Back Music Score Giving Back Foundation
1999 The Venice Project Musician
1993 Silverlake Life: The View from Here Composer : Score Sundance Film Festival
1988 The Lawless Land Roger Corman
Lotus Actress
1987 Who Killed Vincent Chin? Composer : Score
China Girl Composer : Song Vestron
The Last Emperor Actress: Featured Role Lady of the Book
1985 Year of the Dragon Composer : Title Music
1984 Nothing Lasts Forever Actress : Lunar Maiden
1982 Hammett Musician : Pipa; Chinese music consultant to John Barry
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1993 The World of Lucia Hwong Composer : Score Time Warner Cable
1991 Jennifer's in Jail Lifetime
1990 Hiroshima: Out of the Ashes NBC
Forbidden Nights CBS
1989 Vietnam War Story: The Last Days HBO / The Last Soldier
1985 Paper Angels PBS/AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE
Concerts
Year Title Role Notes
1996 Drum Song Composer-Lyrics by George C. Wolfe Boys Choir of Harlem
1991 The Unwelcome Rhythm of Your Pulse Composer Women’s Philharmonic San Francisco
1989 Venus Voodoo Creator, Composer, Performer Lincoln Center
Dance & Multimedia
Year Title Role Notes
1995 Akashic Weekend Pipa performer Event of Ira Cohen
1994 Ali MacGraw Yoga Mind & Body Composer : Score M32 Music Co.
1987 Fierce Attachments BAM/Next Wave Festival
Recording
Year Title Role Notes
1999 Goddess Mythical Visions Vol. 3 Composer, arranger, performer M32 Music Co.
1998 Goddess Celestial Visions Vol. 2
Goddess Awakening Visions Vol. 1
1994 Neurotransmitter Bath Composer
1987 Secret Luminescence Composer, arranger, performer Produced by Kurt Munkacsi
Neo Geo Pipa performer Album of Ryuichi Sakamoto
1984 House of Sleeping Beauties Composer, arranger, performer Private Music

Recognition

References

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