<div dir="ltr"><div><div><p style="text-align: right; font-family: times new roman,serif;" align="right"><font size="2"><span style="color: black;"><u><span style="font-size: 14px;">Media Contact Only:</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></u></span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: right; font-family: times new roman,serif;" align="right"><font size="2"><span style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-size: 14px;">Marci Janas</span></b></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">, Director of Conservatory Media Relations</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: right; font-family: times new roman,serif;" align="right"><font size="2"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">440-775-8328 (office); 440-667-2724 (cell); </span></span><span style="color: black;"><a href="mailto:marci.janas@oberlin.edu" target="_blank"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">marci.janas@oberlin.edu</span></span></a></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p>
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</span></font></p><p style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman,serif;" align="center"><font size="6"><span style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-size: 18px;">OBERLIN CONSERVATORY ALUMNUS COMPOSES </span><span style="font-size: 18px;"></span></b></span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center; font-family: times new roman,serif;" align="center"><font size="4"><font size="6"><span style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-size: 18px;">MUSIC FOR BEIJING OLYMPIC GAMES</span></b></span></font><span><b><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></b></span></font></p>
<p style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><b><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></b></span></font></p><p style="line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">OBERLIN,
OHIO (August 1, 2008)—When an estimated worldwide viewing audience of
four billion tune in to the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games on August 8, they will hear music by composer Zhiyi Wang,
who graduated from the Oberlin Conservatory of Music a mere four years
ago. </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p>
<p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Noted
composer Qigang Chen, Music Director of the Opening Ceremony, selected
Wang from a considerable talent pool to provide original music and
orchestration. At 27, Wang is the youngest member of the composing
team. He arranged four programs for orchestra and choir and
co-orchestrated the theme song of the 39th Olympiad with Chen. The
opening theme is "the most anticipated part of the ceremony and will
color the whole program," says Wang. "It is extremely meaningful to me
that I am a part of it."</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Wang,
who is from Suzhou, China, believes his biggest accomplishment among
many contributions is his composition and orchestration of the </span><i><span style="font-size: 14px;">Fanfare for the Ceremony. </span></i></span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">It
will be performed when Jacques Rogge, President of the International
Olympic Committee and Liu Qi, President of the Beijing Organizing
Committee of the Olympic Games, enter the stadium to make their opening
speeches. Dissatisfied with the many submissions received for this
important piece, Chen asked Wang to develop music for consideration.
After an initial struggle to meet the complicated criteria limiting the
scope of the piece—"tonal yet uncommon, splendid yet elegant,
indigenous yet international"—Wang delivered the </span><i><span style="font-size: 14px;">Fanfare</span></i></span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">, which will be performed by the band of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p>
<p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">"I
never imagined that I could write music for the Olympics," Wang
e-mailed friends upon accepting Chen's invitation." I was totally
shocked and overwhelmed by excitement. It is really a huge opportunity
and stage for me."</span><b><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></b></span></font></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">He
believes that his studies at the Conservatory "undoubtedly
strengthened" his compositional skills and knowledge, and he is
particularly grateful to Professor of Composition Randolph Coleman: "He
enormously improved my ability and broadened my vision, and
consistently gave me confidence. I would not have been competent to do
this important task without my experience at Oberlin." </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">For
his part, Professor Coleman believes that Wang was already a
well-trained composer-pianist when he arrived at the Conservatory.
"Wang was required to write using musical models ranging from Aaron
Copland to John Cage and many others. He assimilated what he learned
into a hybrid and original style incorporating both traditional Chinese
and contemporary western idioms. Thus he follows other world composers,
such as Tan Dun, who transcend national boundaries and create an art
that is truly 21st century."</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Wang
distinguished himself at Oberlin by earning the top prize in the Premio
Franz Liszt International Competition for Composers when he was only
23. His work, </span><i><span style="font-size: 14px;">Three Art Songs</span></i></span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">, was the only one chosen by the composition department for performance at the Commencement recital for his graduating class. </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p>
<p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">After
earning a bachelor of music degree in composition from Oberlin, Wang
went on to complete the composition program at the University of
Louisville's School of Music in 2006, supported by a two-year
Grawemeyer Fellowship, one of the school's highest honors. After
graduating, he was appointed composer-in-residence at the Shanghai
Opera House, where he composed and arranged several works, including
the orchestration of 23 Chinese folk songs. That's where he was during
the summer of 2007, when Chen Qigang, who had heard performances of his
work, contacted him. </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Upon
accepting Chen's invitation, Wang moved to Beijing, where he has been
busy with orchestration, transcription, and composition. "We realize
that what we are sculpting will musically affect every second of the
ceremony, so we are giving the best of our ability to help Beijing
achieve a wonderful moment in Olympic history," says Wang. Coleman
believes that it is fitting that Wang has been honored by the Chinese
government to write music for the Olympic Games. "It confirms their
commitment to continue opening up their culture to include the broadest
possible aesthetic choices."</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p><p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p>
<p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"><b><span style="font-size: 14px;">The Oberlin Conservatory of Music</span></b></span><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">,
founded in 1865 and situated amid the intellectual vitality of Oberlin
College since 1867, is the oldest continuously operating conservatory
in the United States. Renowned internationally as a professional music
school of the highest caliber and pronounced a "national treasure" by
the Washington Post, Oberlin's alumni have gone on to achieve
illustrious careers in all aspects of the serious music world.</span></span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">Many
of them have attained stature as solo performers, composers, and
conductors, among them Jennifer Koh, Steven Isserlis, Denyce Graves,
Franco Farina, Christopher Robertson, Lisa Saffer, George Walker,
Christopher Rouse, David Zinman, and Robert Spano. All of the members
of the contemporary sextet eighth blackbird, most of the members of the
International Contemporary Ensemble, and many of the members of
Apollo's Fire are Oberlin alumni. The Miró, Pacifica, Juilliard, and
Fry Street quartets, among other chamber ensembles, include
Oberlin-trained musicians, as do major orchestras and opera companies
throughout the world.</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p><p style="margin-bottom: 12pt; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;"><font size="4"><span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;"> </span></span><span style="font-size: 14px;">For more information about Oberlin, visit </span></span><span><a href="http://www.oberlin.edu/con" target="_blank"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">www.oberlin.edu/con</span></span></a></span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;">.</span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p>
<p style="text-align: center; line-height: 200%; font-family: times new roman,serif;" align="center"><font size="4"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"># # #</span></span><span><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span></font></p>
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</span></font></div><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Marci Janas</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Director of Conservatory Media Relations</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"> and Editor, Oberlin Conservatory Magazine</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Oberlin Conservatory of Music</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">39 West College Street</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Oberlin, OH 44074</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><a href="http://www.oberlin.edu/con" target="_blank">www.oberlin.edu/con</a></span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Voice: 440.775.8328</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">
<span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;">Fax: 440.775.5457</span><br style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif;"><a href="mailto:marci.janas@oberlin.edu" target="_blank">marci.janas@oberlin.edu</a></span></div>
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