Beibei Wang’s Biography

Biography

Beibei Wang is a uniquely vibrant percussion talent. With a background in both Classical and traditional Chinese percussion, she brings characteristic flair and dynamism to her performances, presenting repertoire as diverse as contemporary classical to free improvisation with equal elegance.

Beibei has performed as a soloist with orchestras such as BBC Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic, Mahler Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra dell’ Academia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, New Japan Philharmonic, the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, and lead the BBC Concert Orchestra on their 2018 China tour. She has appeared as soloist on some of the world’s most prestigious stages including the Barbican Centre, Elbphilharmonie, Grafenegg Festival, and Southbank Centre.

Season 2021/22 brings a broad range of performances for Beibei. She will feature with Manchester Collective for three programmes performing repertoires of contemporary classics and exciting new commissions at Southbank Centre and venues across the UK as well as in their July tour of Europe. She returns Germany to perform with Duisburg Philharmonic as well as to premiere her arrangement of Tan Dun’s ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ for percussion ensemble and cello. Beibei also returns to dance production ‘Samsara’ by Aakash Odedra Company with performances at Edinburgh International Festival followed by a UK tour, and ‘Warrior Queens’ by House of Absolute with the Philharmonia at Sadler’s Wells. Beibei will launch new percussion and piano duo project ‘WoW’ with Maltese pianist Tricia Dawn Williams at Oxford Festival of the Arts in summer 2022.

Beibei has had a long-term collaboration with Academy award-winning, globally renowned composer and conductor Tan Dun. Since 2008, she has frequently featured as a soloist for performances of Tan’s Organic Music Trilogy worldwide. Beibei premiered ‘Earth Concerto’ at Grafenegg Festival and has performed ‘Tears of Nature’ during her 2018 six-city China tour with the BBC Concert Orchestra and conductor Barry Wordsworth.

With her background in traditional percussion styles of China, Beibei’s experience in world music styles has led to her invitation for collaborations from artists and organisations such as UNESCO, conductor Kristjan Järvi and Absolute Ensemble for the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Maestro Muhai Tang touring Europe’s most iconic concert halls with Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, and Belgium-based Taiko group Araumi Daiko in collaboration with Kodo.

In recent years, Beibei has brought her cross-cultural background into original compositions which she has performed in recitals and concerts worldwide. In 2022, her piece ‘JiuGe’ premiered at LSO St Luke’s in London and her percussion solo ‘Drum Dance’ premiered in 2016 in Chemnitz, Germany. Her commissions include music for Shanghai and London Fashion Week in collaboration with Zhao Tong, producer/director of Hexagon Collective, and choreographer Anna Herrman, and her award-winning film score for short film ‘Alder’. Beibei’s multimedia music theatre piece ‘Wu Xing’ toured the UK, China, and Korea and composition ‘Double Happiness’ for percussion duo has featured on BBC Radio 3’s Late Junction.

Beibei is in high demand for masterclasses and workshops internationally at institutions including Stanford University, SOAS, University of London, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and Durham University. Beibei currently leads a traditional Chinese percussion programme at SOAS to promote and preserve traditional Chinese percussion.

Beibei holds master’s degrees from the Royal Academy of Music, London, and Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing. In 2020, she was named Associate of the Royal Academy of Music (ARAM) and has received endorsements from Arts Council England and the Chinese Ministry of Culture.

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