Zhao Jiping is a composer, professor and supervisor on doctoral programmes. He is currently the Honorary Chairman of the Chinese Musicians’ Association, Chairman of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles – Shaanxi Chapter, President of the Music Copyright Society of China, Deputy to the 11th and 12th National People's Congress and a member of the presidium, Deputy to the 13th National People's Congress, and holder of the accolade ‘a Professional with Outstanding Contribution to the Country’. During his illustrious career, Zhao has served as Vice President of the Shaanxi Traditional Opera Research Institute, Head of the Shaanxi Song and Dance Theater, President of the Xi 'an Conservatory of Music, Chairman of the Chinese Musicians’ Association, and a Delegate to the 15th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.
A prolific composer, Zhao has created numerous notable works over the years, such as Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 2 – Ode to Peace; the symphonic poem Farewell to My Concubine; the symphonic picture The Sunbird; the symphonic suite Qiao’s Grand Courtyard; Celebration Overture and Follow the Pagoda Tree to Trace the Roots of Our Ancestors for Chinese orchestra; the cello concerto Zhuang Zhou’s Dream; the guan concerto The Silk Road Fantasia Suite; the erhu concerto The True Hearted; Pipa Concerto No. 2; Violin Concerto No. 1; the dance dramas The Desert Smoke and Hua’er; the peasants’ rice-planting song and dance (yangge) of northern Shaanxi, The Women of Mizhi and the Men of Suide; a symphonic Peking Opera, The Lady Warriors of the Yang Family; chamber music Moon over Guan Mountain; and songs like The Great Jiangnan, The Lost Dream on Broken Bridge, A Man of True Grit, Long Loved, Hark! Hark! The Cry of the Ospreys, and many more.
Zhao has won fame with his scores for films and television dramas. They include the films The Yellow Earth, Red Sorghum, Ju Dou, Raise the Red Lantern, Farewell to My Concubine, The Story of Qiu Ju, Forever Enthralled and Confucius; and television dramas The Water Margin, The Family Legend, Qiao’s Grand Courtyard and Three Kingdoms. He has won numerous accolades at home and abroad, including in China, twice the Golden Rooster Award for Best Music in films, four times the Golden Eagle Award for Best Music in television, and Outstanding Music and Remarkable Contribution awards at the Flying Apsaras Awards for television; and in France, Best Music at the Festival of 3 Continents. Other accolades include the Five ‘One’ Project Award presented by the Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee six times, the China Gold Record Award for Artistic Achievements, the Grand Prix for Vocal Music Composition at the Chinese Golden Bell Awards for Music, the 20th Century Chinese Classics Award etc. He was named ‘Leading Light of China’ in 2017 for spreading Chinese culture. The biographical documentary, Music for the Movies: Zhao Jiping by Allan Miller, a US, UK and France co-production, was globally released in 1997. In 2000, he was invited by the Berliner Philharmoniker to represent Chinese composers at its traditional Waldbühne concert. It marked the debut of a contemporary Chinese composer on this world famous concert stage.
Zhao is considered one of the foremost composers in China, unique in establishing a style, an ethos and a national and cultural spirit that are unquestionably ‘Chinese’. He is one of the most active Chinese composers on the international front today.
