Joan Tan
Joan Tan Jing Wen (b.2000) is a Singaporean composer, whose music draws upon lived experiences, both her own and of others. She graduated in 2023 with a Bachelor of Music (Honours) in Composition at the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (YSTCM), under the tutelage of Associate Professor Peter Ivan Edwards and Martin Jaggi, and will be continuing her education at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln, under the tutelage of Professor Brigitta Muntendorf.
Coming from a society, and perhaps a world, where much sensory input is tuned-out for the sake of every-day function, Joan seeks to create sonic experiences that encourage focused listening, guiding listeners through crafted, auditory experiences that are reflections, and perhaps, responses to ones environments. Attention and perception is at the forefront of her compositions. She is fascinated by how attention constructs, and at times, distorts one's perceptions. How the focus
of one’s attention influences one’s entire experience, both in music, and in their everyday lives. She believes that every sound triggers a sensory response, engages ones imagination and evokes emotions through associations. She aims to not only be a composer, but also an artist, crafting auditory and multisensory experiences that enrapture listeners' attention, provide them shifts in perspectives, and leave them with something to think about, even after the music ends.
Notable compositional activities include the RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Workshop 2021, the Valencia International Performance Academy (VIPA) 2022, and most recently, the International Young Composers Academy Ticino (IYCA) 2023, where she worked with Ensemble Musikfabrik and the Neuevocasolisten Stuttgart. She was also awarded Honourable Mention for her piece, ‘Chroma’, as part of Frost School of Music Ensemble Ibis Composition Competition in 2021. Her piece ‘To drift, float, but never land’ was performed by b-l duo at Maerzmusik 2024, Berlin.
Joan hopes to travel widely one day, to experience life in societies beyond her own.
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Website: https://www.joantansonicspaces.com