Dai Wei (born 1989)
Dai Wei, whose name is pronounced “dye way,” was born in China. She completed a B.A. in Music Composition at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music, and then an M.M. in Music Composition at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. She holds an Artist Diploma at the Curtis Insititute of Music, and is currrently pursuing her doctorate in Music Composition at Princeton University.
Her website states:
Her musical journey navigates in the spaces between east and west, classical and pop, electronic and acoustic, innovation and tradition. She often draws from eastern philosophy and aesthetics to create works with contemporary resonance and reflects an introspection on how these multidimensional conflicts and tension can create and inhabit worlds of their own.
Dai Wei’s 2016 composition Three Pieces for String Quartet is introduced by the composer in this video:
Her 2019 Saṃsāric Dance for orchestra and electronics alludes to the Sanscrit word “saṃsāra,” meaning “world” but also referring to rebith and the cyclic nature of life:
It is Dai Wei’s voice that is heard beginning at about 8:10.
Her composition Song for Shades of Crimson, for solo violin and pre-recorded sounds, was written in 2020 while the composer was in COVID-19 quarantine in China:
The word “crimson” in the title refers to the coloring of maps showing the spread of the pandemic, and the pre-recorded sounds begin with hospital beeps and breathing, later evolving into song. The performance is followed by a brief interview with the composer.
Dai Wei’s 2020 Partial Men is another 2020 composition, and is dedicated to people who donated their organs to extend the lives of others, and it’s almost like a pop song. Dai Wei is seen at the beginning singing in a multitracked recording, and then the Aizuri String Quartet joins her:
The words that Dai Wei sings are in the video’s description section.