CONG WEI
Biography
Cong Wei was born in Shanxi (mainland China) and resided in Hong Kong. She was raised in a strong musical environment, with her father being an amateur cellist and her grandparents accomplished traditional Chinese opera singers. She was inspired by music and its creative forces from an early age. Her formal training began with piano at age four, and by the age of 11, she was composing music. Her primary instructors include composers Prof. Guoping Jia, Prof. Dieter Mack, Prof. Robert HP Platz, Prof. Christopher Keyes, baritone Espen Fegran, and soprano Prof. Angelika Luz.
Wei has received scholarships from the DAAD, China Scholarship Council, Goethe-Institut, and the Hong Kong Ph.D. Fellowship Scheme. She is a scholarship holder of the Deutsche Bank Stiftung Akademie Musiktheater Heute 2021 - 2023.
As a composer, Wei has been featured at various distinguished festivals and venues across China and Germany. This includes the Beijing Concert Hall, Suzhou Culture and Arts Centre, Chinese Cultural Center and Korean Cultural Center in Berlin, Gasteig Munich, Arnold Schönburg Center Vienna, Kunstmuseum Stuttgart, and Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg, to name a few. She has also been featured at venues and festivals in Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Lithuania, and the USA, and her works have been broadcast by WDR3 and Künstlerkanal.
Wei has become a highly awarded composer for her work, most notably with the 2020 iSING! International Composition Competition (Farewell to Dongda - Honorable Mention), the 2017 Würzburg Chamber Music Composition Competition (Light Stream - First Prize), the 2016 Leibniz International Composition Competition (special prize from the Foreign Office for young Chinese composers), and the 2014 Karlsruher International Composition Competition Prize, to name a few. Her collaborations with numerous symphony orchestras and ensembles include the China Youth Symphony Orchestra, Suzhou Symphony Orchestra, Würzburg Young Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra, Beijing New Music Ensemble, Ictus Ensemble, and Ensemble Wiener Collage, and so on.
Wei has performed as a new music singer in several festivals, including the Werkstatt Festival, Stiftsmusik Stuttgart, and Darmstadt Summer Course. Her singing career launched with one of the leading roles in the scenic concert "The Cold Trip" at Kunstmuseum Stuttgart. She has done several projects at Landesmuseum Stuttgart, Haus der Geschichte Baden-Württemberg, and the German Literature Archive Marbach. Her singing repertoire spectrum ranges from the performative work of Gerhard Stäbler (“Last Things” and “EarPlugs”) and the cycle “Two Walking” by Pascal Dusapin to the score “Nai” by Hans-Joachim Hespos, which highlights difficult extended techniques. Wei has also done pieces from György Kurtág, Luigi Nono, Anton Webern, Mauricio Kagel, Kaija Saariaho, John Cage, Dieter Mack, Wolfgang Rihm, Mark Andre, Thomas Larcher, Mauro Lanza, among others.