The Department of Music is part of the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pittsburgh. The department serves the University's undergraduate student body, music majors and music minors, and...
Bell Yung
Professor of Music
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1970 (Physics)
PhD, Harvard University, 1976 (Music)
byun [at] pitt [dot] edu
Fields
History and Theory of Chinese Music, Cantonese Opera, Cantonese Narrative Songs, Music of Qin, Chinese Ritual Music, Charles Seeger.
Teaching
Past teaching posts: the University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, University of California at Davis, Cornell University.
Courses Taught
Music of East Asia, Introduction to Ethnomusicology, Transcription and Analysis, Introduction to World Music, Graduate Seminars in Ethnomusicology (various topics), Chinese Performance Literature.
Recent Honors/Awards
Ch'ien Mu Lecturer at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2009-2010)
Provost's Award for Excellence in Mentoring, University of Pittsburgh (2009)
Honorary Research Fellow, University of Hong Kong (2008)
Senior Research Fellowship, University of Pittsburgh (2007)
Ford Foundation Conference and Publication Grant (2003)
Hong Kong Arts Development Council Grant (1999)
Research Grants Council, Hong Kong (1997-2000; 2000-02)
Music Publishers' Association Paul Revere Award (1998)
Honorary Research Fellow, Research Institute of Music, Beijing (1997)
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship (1996)
PUBLICATIONS
Books
The Flower Princess, A Cantonese Opera. Editor, Translator, and Author of Introduction, with assistance in translation from Sonia Ng and Katherine Carlitz. Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press. 2010.
Music and Cultural Rights. Co-Editor (with Andrew Weintraub) and contributor. Champagne, IL: University of Illinois Press. 2009.
The Last of China’s Literati: The Music, Poetry and Life of Tsar Teh-yun. Hong Kong: The Hong Kong University Press. 2008.
Yinyinshi qinpu [Guqin Repertory from the Yinyin Study]. Co-Editor and contributor. Music Department, University of Hong Kong. 2000.
Understanding Charles Seeger, Pioneer in American Musicology. Co-Editor (with Helen Rees) and contributor. University of Illinois Press. 1999.
Celestial Airs of Antiquity: Music of the Seven-String Zither of China. Madison, Wisconsin: A-R Editions. 1997. Music Publishers Association Paul Revere Award (1998).
Harmony and Counterpoint: Ritual Music in Chinese Context. Co-Editor (with Evelyn Rawski and Rubie Watson) and contributor. Stanford University Press. 1996.
Themes and Variations: Writings on Music in Honor of Rulan Chao Pian. Co-Editor (with Joseph Lam) and contributor. Co-published by the Music Department, Harvard University and the Institute for Chinese Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. 1994.
Cantonese Opera: Performance as Creative Process. Cambridge University Press. 1989.
Recent Articles
2009
• “Voices of Hong Kong: the Reconstruction of a Performance in a Teahouse” in Critical Zone No. 3, 37-56. 2009.
• “Tsar Teh-yun at Age 100: A Life of Qin Music, Poetry and Calligraphy” in Lives in Chinese Music, ed. Helen Rees, 65-90. Champagne IL: University of Illinois Press. 2009.
• “Peking Opera and Regional Operas” in Encyclopedia of Modern China, 4 vols. ed. David Pong. Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner’s Sons. 2009.
• “Historical Legacy and the Contemporary World: UNESCO and China’s Qin Music in the 21st Century.” In Music and Cultural Rights, ed. Andrew Weintraub and Bell Yung, 140-168. Champagne, IL: University of Illinois Press. November 2009.
2008
“Creativity in ‘Traditional’ Music: Introducing an Ancient Composition for the Chinese Instrument Qin” in Festschrift for Dr. Lee Hye-ku, 1033-1049. Seoul: Seoul National University. 2008.
2006
“Musicological Discourse and Graphic Imagination: Charles Seeger as Conceptual Artist,” in Festschrift to Commemorate the 70th Birthday of Prof. Yosihiko Tokumaru, special issue of Otyanomizu Ongaku Ronshu (December 2006): 89-106.
Recent Performances
Recital on the seven-string zither, Emory University, March 24, 2003.
Recital on the seven-string zither, Bowdoin College, Maine, March 29, 2002.
Recital on the seven-string zither, University Museum, University of Michigan, November 7, 2002.
Audio and Video Recordings
Naamyam Songs of Love and Longing, a set of two compact discs published by the Chinese Music Archive, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and the Bailey Record Company.(2007).
A Blind Singer's Story: Fifty Years of Life and Work in Hong Kong, a 50-minute DVD. Hong Kong Museum of History (2004).
Qin Music on Antique Instruments. 67-minute compact disc. Music Department, University of Hong Kong (1998).
Activities
Director of Asian Studies Center, University of Pittsburgh (2002-06).
Lectures (since 2003, selected) at the University of Maryland at College Park; Princeton University; UCLA; Aula de Música, Universidad de Alcalá, Spain.
Chair and discussant for the panel "Rethinking Cultural Revolution Culture" at the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, San Diego, March 3-7, 2004.
Discussant at the conference "Experimenting Chinese Theater" in Taipei, March 12-14, 2004.
Projects
Monograph on Blind Singers of Southern China.
About the Department
