Chenpi
Chenpi drying in the sun in Hong Kong
Traditional Chinese	陳皮
Simplified Chinese	陈皮
Literal meaning	aged peel
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin chénpí Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping can4 pei4

Chenpi or chen pi is sun-dried tangerine (mandarin) peel used as a traditional seasoning in Chinese cooking and traditional medicine. They are aged by storing them dry. They have a pungent and bitter taste.

Cantonese cuisine[link]

Some tong sui desserts such as red bean soup will use this occasionally.

American Chinese cuisine[link]

Within American Chinese cuisine, it is used in "orange dishes" such as orange flavored beef or orange flavored chicken.

See also[link]

• Jujube
• Prune

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Kelly Chen
Chen in 2010
Chinese name	陳慧琳 (Traditional)
Chinese name	陈慧琳 (Simplified)
Pinyin	Chén Hùilín (Mandarin)
Jyutping	Chan4 Wai6 Lam4 (Cantonese)
Birth name	Vivian Chen Wai-man (陳慧汶)
Origin	Hong Kong
Born	(1973-09-13) 13 September 1973 (age 38) Hong Kong
Other name(s)	Chen Huilin Wai-Lam Chan Kelly Chan
Occupation	Singer, actress
Genre(s)	Cantopop
Instrument(s)	Vocals
Label(s)	Go East Entertainment Co. Ltd
Years active	1995-Present
Spouse(s)	Alex Lau 劉建浩
Children	Chace Lau 劉昇 (born 10 July 2009) Riley Lau 劉琛 (born 21 March 2012)
Official Website	Official website

Kelly Chen Wai-lam (born Vivian Chen Wai-man on 13 September 1973) is a Hong Kong Cantopop singer and actress. She has been referred to as a "diva of Asia" (Chinese: 亞洲天后; literally "Asia's Heavenly Queen"). Chen has great success in the Asia Entertainment industry with nearly 20 million record sales of 38 albums. She has won over 300 awards and is involved in many philanthropic activities.

Biography[link]

Chen was born under the name of Vivian Chen Wai-man on 13 September 1973^[1] in Hong Kong. She attended Canadian Academy International School in Kobe, Japan, for high school^[1] and then Parsons The New School for Design in New York,^[1] where she studied graphic art.^[2]

Chen speaks fluent Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, and English. She has an elder sister and a younger brother, singer Victor Chen Si-hon.^[3]

Personal[link]

Chen gave birth to her first son Chace Lau on 10 July 2009 and gave birth to a 6.5 lb second baby boy Riley Lau on 21 March 2012, both are via Caesarean. She was pregnant with twins(girls) in 2010, but lost them after suffering a tragic miscarriage in March the following year

Career Beginning[link]

In 1994, while still a student at Parsons The New School for Design, Chen made two commercials, one for Shanghai Beer and one for the Bank of Hong Kong.^[2] After graduating from Parsons in 1995, Chen returned to Hong Kong. Chen was introduced to an acquaintance who owned a production studio and was chosen to feature in a Jacky Cheung music video.^[2]

1995: Chen made her film debut in Whatever Will Be, Will Be (仙樂飄飄), and sang the film's theme song. In September 1995, Chen performed the song "Mou Tian" composed by composer Steve Barakatt. She then released a compilation album, Break the Sky, along with 3 other singers, and then her first Cantonese album, Dedicated Lover (醉迷情人) in December.^[2] The album was a success in Hong Kong and furthered her acting and musical career.

1996: Kelly released her first Mandarin language album, I Don't Think So (我不以為), in, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore, which sold over 150,000. Following the album's success, she produced another Cantonese CD in October 1996, Wind, Flower, Snow (風花雪). "Wind, Flower, Snow" is a very popular song in Hong Kong. In November, 1996, Chen released her first Japanese single, "Traveler."^[2] 1996 saw Kelly's first stint as a Japanese singer when she released two Japanese singles.

1997: Kelly performed her first ever concert, "Starry Dream of Love" (星夢情真) and released the partner CD in June, this album sold over 100,000 in Hong Kong. She held three concerts in Hong Kong in June, named "Kelly Starry Dream of Love Concert" (陳慧琳星夢情真演唱會). In July, she released "Morning", another Japanese single and her first Japan-based hit. Kelly also provided the voice of Madame Trunk in the animated movie A Chinese Ghost Story. In the course of five months Kelly released four albums. With the releases of her 2nd Mandarin album, Insight (體會), the compilation Kelly's Best Collection 97, the live CD Starring Dream of Love Live in Concert, and her next Cantonese CD A Movie (一齣戲). Insight sold 1.34 million in East Asia. Kelly had established herself as a popular singer and actor in East Asia region.

1998: Kelly embarked on a world tour, "Kelly Starry Dream of Love World Tour" (陳慧琳星夢情真世界巡迴演唱會), starting in Australia. Besides the world tour, Kelly also performed 10 concerts for school children in Taiwan. She also released her Mandarin album, Love Me Or Not (愛我不愛), the hit single "Note Book" (記事本) is well-known all over Asia. This album sold over 2 million in Asia, Kelly boosted her status as a Chinese pop music diva in Asia Entertainment industry.

1999-2000: Starring in the television drama Don't be a Cry Baby with Japanese star Kyoko Fukada and performing two concerts in Fukuoka, Japan in 1999, Kelly increased her Japanese fanbase. She released a new album, Love of Colours which sold over 300,000 in Hong Kong from 9 December 1999 to 2000, and was the best selling album in 2000. She also won "The most popular female artist" in 1999 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation. Her albums sold over 230,000 in Hong Kong in 1999, the best selling female artist in Hong Kong. 2001:Kelly released her remix album Kelly BPM Dance Collection in March, which sold over 150,000 copies. She embarked on another world tour, the "Paisley Galaxy World Tour" (陳慧琳花花宇宙世界巡迴演唱會), which started out with one show in Singapore and two shows in Genting Highlands in Malaysia. (She broke the record of best-selling Hong Kong singers' concerts in Malaysia.) Kelly came to North America, where she performed concerts in Chicago, Atlantic City, Los Angeles and Toronto all as a part of her world tour in May. She later returned to China for a tour where she performed in Guangzhou, Huizhou, Zhongshan, Chengdu, Shanghai and Beijing. She released a Mandarin album, Flying (飛吧), in August. The album was the among the top 20 best-selling albums in Taiwan in 2001. Kelly's movie Calmi Cuori Appassionati (冷靜與熱情之間), released in November, 2001, grossed more than 30 billion yen (HKD$220,000,000) in Japan. The film broke the pre-sale ticket record in Japan. The film was ranked as the 67th best-selling movie in history of the Japanese box office, it was ranked at 98th best-selling movie in 2006 in Japan's box office history. Kelly won "Asian Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Female Artist" at the 2001 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation.

Stabilizing career[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2012)

2002:Kelly released her first Japanese album, Grace, in January,selling over 50,000 copies in Japan. She released her Cantonese album Ask Kelly that February. The single "Blessed" (有福氣) was very popular in Hong Kong. She released her Mandarin album Love is coming (愛情來了) in May and held one concert in Taoyuan, Taiwan, named "Kelly Chen Love is Coming Concert" (陳慧琳愛情來了演唱會). She held 12 shows in Hong Kong in July, named "Kelly Dynacarnival World Tour, Hong Kong" (陳慧琳飛天舞會演唱會). She held a shows called "Kelly Dynacarnival World Tour" (陳慧琳飛天舞會世界巡迴演唱會) in Sydney and Melbourne in September. In November, she released her Mandarin album(new+bes) Shining Colourful (閃亮每一天). She held her "Kelly Dynacarnival World Tour" in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur in December. The Republic of Liberia issued stamps commemorating her in December. Kelly won "Asian Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Female Artist" at the 2002 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation and "Best Dressed 31st Awards" held by the Japanese government.

She held her "Kelly Dynacarnival World Tour" in San Francisco, Atlantic City and Toronto in April, 2003. She released her Mandarin album You Don't Mean It (心口不一) and Cantonese album Love (愛) in August. You Don't Mean It sold over 800,000 in Asia. Kelly again won the "Asian Pacific Most Popular Hong Kong Female Artist" award at the 2003 Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Awards Presentation.

She became the first Asian spokesperson for Dior in May, 2004. She released her Cantonese album "Stylish Index". She was chosen as "Famous Outstanding Young Persons of the World" (2004年度世界傑出青年) by Junior Chamber International in October, 2004. She held 10 shows in Hong Kong in December, named "Kelly Lost in Paradise World Tour, Hong Kong" (陳慧琳紙醉金迷演唱會) and also released her Cantonese album "Grace & Charm". She was also voted "CCTV Most Popular Female Singer " (第七屆中央電視台音樂電視大賽港澳臺及海外華語歌壇最受歡迎女歌手) by forty-five million Chinese people in 2004.

Career success[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2012)

In 2005, her song "Hope" (希望) from the Korean TV series Dae Jang Geum (大長今) as it was a popular song in both Hong Kong and mainland China. This song also improved her earnings as well as the company promoting her at the time. At the TVB 8 Awards Presentation Kelly took home 3 awards for the song "Hope" including the Song Award, World's Most Popular Cantonese Song, and Most Well-Liked Female Singer in mainland China. "Hope" was also the top song of charts for 20 radio stations in China and had even set a high record for ringtone downloads. A month after the initial launch, there were a total of over 3 million downloads and to date, the accumulated figure is over 6 million. As such, her record company had earned $5 million after deductions. Universal Music Group's managing director had called Kelly to inform her of the good news. Kelly had promised that if the number of downloads were to go over 10 million, she will distribute the earnings to the staff. Kelly has also wrapped up her tour, "Kelly Chen Lost in Paradise World Tour" (陳慧琳紙醉金迷世界巡迴演唱會) in 2005-2006 in Asia and North America(10 shows in Hong Kong, 2 Shows in Genting Highlands in Malaysia, 2 shows in Sydney and Melbourne in Australia, 12 shows (2 in Shanghai, 1 in Nanjing, 1 in Wuhan, 1 in Harbin, 1 in Chongqing, 1 in Chengdu, 1 in Hangzhou, 1 in Changzhou, 1 in Wuxi, 2 in Guangzhou)in Mainland China, 3 shows in USA(2 in Connecticut,1 in Las Vegas), 1 show in Toronto, Canada). "Lost in Paradise" lasted three hours and contained 35 songs from Kelly's lengthy 10-year music career. Kelly has held total 30 shows for "Kelly Lost in Paradise World Tour".

Kelly was ranked as the third most-earned income artist, following by Jackie Chan and Andy Lau (the most-earned female artist) overall all Greater China region from 2005 to 2007.

In 2008, Kelly performed in the movie Empress and the Warriors (江山美人), the box office was about HKD$100,000,000. She also held 6 concerts in Hong Kong, named "Kelly Chen Love Fighters Concert 2008" (陳慧琳Love Fighters演唱會08). She announced to all the audiences that she will marry to Alex Lau in her last concert in 18 June. Kelly has turned down all the shows of the "Kelly Chen Love Fighters World Tour" (陳慧琳Love Fighters 世界巡迴演唱會) in China, Taiwan, Korea, USA, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia because she wanted to give birth. She was married to Alex Lau (劉建浩) in 2 October. She performed in the Closing Ceremony of 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

In 2009, Kelly was chosen as "Young Global Leaders" by World Economic Forum in 2009. Her first son, Chace Lau (劉昇), was born on 10 July. Kelly performed with Amei Cheung, in the opening ceremony of National Games of the People's Republic of China.

In 2010, Kelly released her first Mandarin album after giving her birth, Chasing dreams (微光) in March. After the miscarriage incident, Kelly stopped her work to let her body and mind recover for a few months. However, in March after the Japanese Fukushima Earthquake, she still made a video clip to support the Japanese. Kelly then started to come out of the sadness and started mostly working on commercials and as fashion show guests. Near the end of 2011, Kelly got involved in filming the 2012 Chinese New Year movie All Well Ends Well 2012 starring with Louis Koo, Donnie Yan, and Sandra Ng. At the same time Kelly announced that she was 4 months pregnant with a baby boy. After all the movie promotions, Kelly will pause on her work again to wait for this newborn to arrive. Kelly gave birth to her second baby boy on March 21, 2012 weighing 6.5 pound.

Tours[link]

Commercials[link]

Kelly has been involved in many commercials since she started her career. She has been spokesman of many top well-known brands. The following list shows the commercials she involved.

List of commercials[link]

Philanthropy[link]

Since 1998, Chen has been involved in a number of charitable activities, and has served as an ambassador for a number of causes including environmental protection, education, and children's causes. She was appointed a Hong Kong Goodwill Ambassador in 1998.

Environment[link]

Chen was appointed Hong Kong Ambassador of Environment in 1998. With Greenpeace, she has made a number of commercials to promote awareness of environmental protection.^[4]

Education[link]

In April 2002, she was appointed by the "Standing Committee on Language Education and Research" (SCOLAR) as the "Ambassador of The Workplace English Campaign" to encourage the working people to keep studying the English language as Kelly herself had done. After years of serving other funds, Kelly finally started her own fund to help children called the "Kelly Chen Children Education Fund" to raise money to help needy children. Besides performing her Dynacarnival concert in Hong Kong, Kelly traveled to Sydney and Melbourne, Australia to perform her concert there. Kelly was soon appointed by the Hong Kong Correctional Services Department as the "Ambassador of The Rehabilitation". Kelly was also awarded with two honors: first, she was chosen as one of Hong Kong's Ten Outstanding Young Persons 2002.^[5] That same year, she was invited to represent Hong Kong to attend the ABU Prizes – Presentation & Special Concert in the NHK Hall in Tokyo. She also received the 13th Annual Best Dressed Award in Japan, becoming the first foreigner to ever receive the award. She was later invited by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and HKSAR Government Health Department to film the publicity campaigns for promoting the respect of personal privacy and organ donation throughout China and Hong Kong.

Children's causes[link]

She was appointed by UNICEF as the Honorable China Children's Health Ambassador. Kelly was later appointed by The Hong Kong Girl Guides Association as "Girl Guides Millennium Goodwill Ambassador", which led her to visit inner Mongolia to investigate the way young children were living and the health and food services they were receiving. In 2001, Kelly added yet another title to her growing list as The Volunteer Ambassador 2001 as appointed by the Social Welfare Department. She was later appointed by UNICEF a second time as The Ambassador of The Hong Kong Committee For UNICEF.

Other charitable work[link]

As an ambassador of the Hong Kong Red Cross, Chen promoted the donation of blood banks and an ambassador for the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).^[6]

March 2003 brought even more titles Kelly's way: she was appointed The Philatelic Ambassador by the Hong Kong Post, as well as "The Love And Peace Ambassador" by City Junior Chamber. Kelly soon took her "Dynacarnival" to North America by performing in Atlantic City, Toronto and San Francisco. She also began to release DSD versions of her earlier albums, including Dedicated Lover. She was later appointed as Star of "Hong Kong Outstanding Students Award" by Lion & Globe Educational Trust, furthering her push for better education. In June 2003, Kelly's wax figure for the Madam Tussaud Wax Museum was ready and was put on display. She was later invited to be the "Love Ambassador" of "World Children's Day at McDonald's 2003" by McDonald's restaurants in Hong Kong. She was also appointed as the "Pass-it-On" Ambassador by the Hong Kong Red Cross, and attend its Christmas campaign to visit the John. F. Kennedy Center.

Kelly's charitable work continued into 2004 as she was appointed as the star representative to attend the "5th HK Outstanding Teenagers" election press conference held by Hong Kong Playground Association and RTHK. In February, Kelly was appointed as both "Road Safety Vision Ambassador" by the Road Safety Council to promote road safety, and as the "Reading Ambassador" by The Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association of Hong Kong. May 2004 brought the title of "Hospital Play Ambassador" to Kelly, as well as the title of "Japanese Promotional Ambassador" by The Japan Society of HK, Consulate General of Japan and RTHK to encourage Hong Kong citizens to learn Japanese. Kelly received another award when she was named "The Outstanding Young Persons of the World"^[7] in 2004 by the Junior Chamber International, becoming the first Hong Kong female celebrity to be honored with the award.

In 2007, Kelly was appointed as Hong Kong "Innovative Entrepreneur Ambassdor" (創意創業大使) and had sung the theme song "Innovation" (創) for the "Innovative Entrepreneur of The Year 2007" (創意創業大賞2007) organised by City Junior Chamber 城市青年商會, Hong Kong.^[8] Kelly's responsibility is to promote the awareness of entrepreneurship to youngsters and to attend the various promotion events organised. She also continued the support of Innovation Entrepreneur in 2008.

After completing her movie, An Empress and the Warriors, with Leon Lai, Kelly headed a concert, called "Love Fighters", at the HK Coliseum in June 2008. This was her biggest concert headline to date, which will feature many sets and exotic choreography.

Kelly donated $600,000 for the 2008 Sichuan earthquake.^[9]

She sang at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Media and public relations[link]

In a survey conducted in early 2002 by the City University of Hong Kong, Kelly was named "The Most Popular Idol" among youth groups.^[10]

Endorsements[link]

In 1997, Shiseido, Japan's largest cosmetics company, hired Chen to appear in their commercials; she was "depicted as [a] modern Asian [beauty], not quite identical yet not totally different from Japanese women."^[11] Chen was also chosen as the cover model for Ginza, a new monthly magazine targeted at women in their twenties.^[11]

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• Chasing Dreams 微光 (Mar 16, 2010)
• Kellylicious (May 16, 2008)
• Happy Girl (Aug. 25, 2006)
• Eternal Sunshine 我是陽光的 (Sept. 16, 2005)
• GRACE AND CHARM (Dec. 22, 2004)
• Stylish Index (Jul. 23, 2004)
• Love 愛 (Aug. 22, 2003)
• You Don't Mean It 心口不一 (Aug. 1, 2003)
• Baby Cat (Dec. 13, 2002)
• Dynacarnival 飛天舞會 (Jul. 12, 2002)
• Love Appeared 愛情來了 (May 10, 2002)
• ASK KELLY (Feb. 1, 2002)
• GRACE (Jan. 29, 2002)
• ASK (Dec. 19, 2001)
• Fly 飛吧 (Aug. 2001)
• In The Party (July 2001)
• The Big Day 大日子 (Nov. 2000)
• Paisley Galaxy 花花宇宙 (May 2000)
• Love You So Much 愛你愛的 (Apr 2000)
• Don't Stop Loving Me 繼續愛我 (Aug. 1999)
• True Feeling 真感覺 (Feb. 1999)
• Love Me Or Not 愛我不愛 (Dec 1998)
• Da De Dum I Am Falling Out of Love Da De Dum（我失戀）(July 1998)
• You're Not The Same 你不一樣 (Mar. 1998)
• A Movie 一齣戲 (Dec. 1997)
• Insight 體會 (Aug. 1997)
• Starry Dreams of Love 星夢情真 (June 1997)
• Wind, Flower, Snow 風花雪 (Oct. 1996)
• I Don't Think So 我不以為 (May 1996)
• True Love Special Edition 真情細說 (1996)
• Dedicated Lover 醉迷情人 (Dec. 1995)

Live albums[link]

• Kelly Chen Love Fighters Concert 2008 陳慧琳Love Fighters演唱會2008 (June 13–18, 2008)
• Kelly x Jorden Music is Live Concert 陳慧琳 x 陳小春 拉闊演奏廳 (Oct. 23 2006)
• Lost In Paradise 2005 Concert Live 陳慧琳紙醉金迷2005演唱會 (Dec. 9, 2005)
• Kelly Dynacarnival 2002 Concert 陳慧琳飛天舞會演唱會 (Oct. 2002)
• Music Is Live Concert 拉闊音樂演唱會 (Nov. 2001)
• Kelly Chen Paisley Galaxy Live In Concert 花花宇宙演唱會 (Sept. 2000)
• Kelly Chen Music is Live in Concert 拉闊音樂演唱會 (Mar. 1998)
• Starry Dreams of Love Live In Concert 星夢情真演唱會 (Aug. 1997)

Soundtracks & compilations[link]

• Especial Kelly (Dec. 21 2006)
• Red 陳慧琳 Red (Dec. 19 2003)
• Shining & Colorful 閃亮每一天 (Nov. 2002)
• BELOVED 陳慧琳最愛的主題曲 (Sept. 2002)
• Kelly Game - Little Kelly 陳慧琳唱遊小時候 (Mar. 26, 2002)
• BPM Kelly Chen dance collection volume 4 (Dec. 2001)
• Lavender Original Movie soundtrack 薰衣草電影原聲大碟 (Dec. 2001)
• Kelly Chen BPM Dance Collection (Mar. 2001)
• Humdrum Puppy Love 初戀o拿o查麵原聲大碟 (Nov. 2000)
• Go East 5th Anniversary in Concert 正東五週年接力演唱會 (Oct. 2000)
• Kelly Chen Collection 95-00 (June 2000)
• Love Formula - New + Best Collection 戀愛情色 (Dec. 1999)
• Rave 行雷閃電 (May 1999)
• Kelly's Greatest Hits 最愛陳慧琳精選輯 (May 1999)
• Best of Kelly Chen (1998)
• Defenseless Heart 心不設防 (1998)
• Mulan 花木蘭 (1998)
• Lover's Concerto (Apr. 1998)
• Faye and Kelly Party 菲琳派對 (Feb. 1997)
• Kelly's Best Collection 1997 菲琳派對(1997)
• Who Wants To Let Go 17 Greatest Hits 誰願放手精選十七首 (Dec. 1996)
• Open Up The Sky 打開天空 (Sept. 1995)
• Whatever Will Be, Will Be 仙樂飄飄 (Aug. 1995)

Filmography[link]

Her film debut was in 1995, in Whatever Will Be, Will Be (仙樂飄飄, Xian Yue Piao Piao, literally Heavenly Music Floating in the Air). Kelly Chan has since starred and made cameos in quite a number of films. Her filmography includes:

• Whatever Will Be, Will Be (仙樂飄飄, 1995)
• The Age of Miracles (1995)
• Lost and Found (天涯海角, 1996)
• A Chinese Ghost Story: The Tsui Hark Animation (1997)
• Anna Magdalena (安娜瑪德蓮娜, 1998)
• Hot War (幻影特攻, 1998)
• Metade Fumaca (半支煙, 1999) - Cameo
• Tokyo Raiders (東京攻略, 2000)
• And I Hate You So (小親親, 2000)
• Lavender (薰衣草, 2000)
• Calmi Cuori Appassionati (冷靜與熱情之間, 2001)
• Merry Go Round (初戀拿喳麵, 2001) - Cameo
• Infernal Affairs (無間道, 2002)
• Infernal Affairs III (無間道 III, 2003)
• Breaking News (大事件, 2004)
• Super Model (我要做Model, 2004) - Cameo
• McDull, the Alumni (春田花花同學會, 2006) - OL
• It's a Wonderful Life (心想事成, 2007)
• An Empress and the Warriors (江山美人, 2008)
• 72 Tenants of Prosperity (2010)
• All's Well, Ends Well 2012 (2012)
• The Monkey King (2012)^[12][13]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• "Buzzing: Kelly Chen Pregnant". The (Singapore) Straits-Times. 16 February 2009. 
• Chow, Vivienne (3 October 2008). "Kelly Chen weds long-time love in lavish ceremony worthy of a Canto-pop dream". South China Morning Post. 
• Greenpeace China. "陈慧琳"气候变化危机"短片". http://www.greenpeace.org/china/zh/photosvideos/videos/kelly-chan. Retrieved 15 April 2009. 
• Hong Kong Cinemagic. "Kelly Chen Wai Lam". http://www.hkcinemagic.com/en/people.asp?id=197. Retrieved 12 April 2009. 
• Iwabuchi, Kōichi (2002). Recentering globalization: popular culture and Japanese transnationalism. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-2891-7. 
• "Kelly Announces Her Marriage During Concert. 陳慧琳演唱會上宣布婚訊.". Chongqing Times. 20 June 2008. http://big5.xinhuanet.com/gate/big5/news.xinhuanet.com/life/2008-06/20/content_8406942.htm. Retrieved 7 May 2009. 
• "Kelly Chen Wai Lam Biography". 22 November 2005. http://yummycelebrities.com/2005/11/22/kelly-chen-profile-and-biography/. Retrieved 12 April 2009. 
• Haibao. "陈慧琳的新鲜资讯". Haibao.cn. http://www.haibao.cn/star/2322/. Retrieved 7 May 2009. 

External links[link]

• Kelly Chen's official site
• Kelly Chen at the Internet Movie Database
• *iKelly Family*
• Biography from the Junior Chamber International
• Kelly's video collection

Pierre Boulez in 2004

Pierre Boulez (French pronunciation: [pjɛʁ bu.lɛːz]) (born 26 March 1925) is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.

Biography[link]

Early years[link]

Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics. He pursued the latter at Lyon before pursuing music at the Paris Conservatoire under Olivier Messiaen and the wife of Arthur Honegger, Andrée Vaurabourg.^[1]

Through Messiaen, Boulez discovered twelve-tone technique — which he would later study privately with René Leibowitz — and went on to write atonal music in a post-Webernian serial style.^[2] Boulez was initially part of a cadre of early supporters of Leibowitz, but due to an altercation with Leibowitz, their relations turned divisive, as Boulez spent much of his career promoting the music of Messiaen instead.

The first fruits of this were his cantatas Le visage nuptial and Le soleil des eaux for female voices and orchestra, both composed in the late 1940s and revised several times since, as well as the Second Piano Sonata of 1948, a well-received 32-minute work that Boulez composed at the age of 23. Thereafter, Boulez was influenced by Messiaen's research to extend twelve-tone technique beyond the realm of pitch organization, serialising durations, dynamics, mode of attack, and so on. This technique became known as integral serialism.

Boulez quickly became one of the philosophical leaders of the post-war movement in the arts towards greater abstraction and experimentation. Many composers of Boulez's generation taught at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik in Darmstadt, Germany. The so-called Darmstadt School composers were instrumental in creating a style that, for a time, existed as an antidote to music of nationalist fervor; an international, even cosmopolitan style, a style that could not be 'co-opted' as propaganda in the way that the Nazis used, for example, the music of Ludwig van Beethoven.^[3] Boulez was in contact with many composers who would become influential, including John Cage and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Early in his career, he performed as a specialist on the ondes Martenot.^[4]

Serialism[link]

Boulez's totally serialized, punctual works consist of Polyphonie X (1950–51; withdrawn) for 18 instruments, the two musique-concrète Études (1951–52), and Structures, book I for two pianos.^[6] Structures was also a turning point for Boulez. As one of the most visible totally serialized works, it became a lightning rod for various kinds of criticism. György Ligeti, for example, published an article that examined its patterns of durations, dynamics, pitch, and attack types in great detail, concluding that its "ascetic attitude" is "akin to compulsion neurosis", and that Boulez "had to break away from it... And so he created the sensual feline world of the 'Marteau'".^[7]

These criticisms, combined with what Boulez felt was a lack of expressive flexibility in the language, as he outlined in his essay "At the Limit of Fertile Land..." had already led Boulez to refine his compositional language. He loosened the strictness of his total serialism into a more supple and strongly gestural music, and did not publicly reveal much about these techniques, which limited further discussion. His first venture into this new kind of serialism was a work for 12 solo voices titled Oubli signal lapidé (1952), but it was withdrawn after a single performance. Its material was reused in the 1970 composition Cummings ist der Dichter.^[8]

[edit] Le marteau sans maître

Boulez's strongest achievement in this method is his masterpiece Le marteau sans maître (The Hammer without a Master) for ensemble and voice, from 1953 to 1957, a "keystone of 20th-century music",^[9] and one of the few works of advanced music from the 1950s to remain in the repertoire.^{[citation needed]} Le marteau was a surprising and revolutionary synthesis of many different streams in modern music, as well as seeming to encompass the sound worlds of modern jazz, the Balinese Gamelan, traditional African musics, and traditional Japanese musics.

Boulez described one of the work's innovations, called "pitch multiplication", in several articles, most importantly in the chapter "Musical Technique" in Boulez 1971. It was Lev Koblyakov, however, who first described its presence in the three "L'artisanat furieux" movements of Le marteau sans maître,^[10] and in his 1981 doctoral thesis.^[11] However, an explanation of the processes themselves was not made until 1993.^[12] Other techniques used in the "Bourreaux de solitude" cycle were first described by Ulrich Mosch,^[13] and later fully elaborated by him.^[14]

Experimentation[link]

After Le marteau sans maître, Boulez began to strengthen the position of the music post-WWI modern composers through conducting and advocacy. He also began to consider new avenues in his own work. With Pli selon pli for orchestra with solo soprano, he began to work with an idea of improvisation and open-endedness. He considered how the conductor might be able to 'improvise' on vague notations, such as the fermata, and how the players might 'improvise' on irrational durations, such as grace notes. In addition, he worked with the idea of leaving the specific ordering of movements or sections of music open to be chosen for a particular night of a performance, an idea related to the polyvalent form of Karlheinz Stockhausen. Interestingly, though the two works sound similar today, and certainly represent the same impeccable craft, Pli selon pli was not received as well as Le marteau. This is perhaps more of a cultural barometer than a reflection on the work itself.

During the time that Boulez was testing these new ideas, those colleagues who had never been entirely comfortable with the prominence of a rigorous musical language, such as György Ligeti, had brought a convincing musical counter argument to Boulez's musical ideals. In a poetic twist, Boulez had moved from peerless respect for Le marteau sans maître to seeming defeat with Pli selon pli (Fold upon fold), which sets a Stéphane Mallarmé poem about the tripping impotence of a swan, unable to take flight from a frozen lake.

Controlled chance[link]

From the 1950s, beginning with the Third Piano Sonata (1955–57/63), Boulez experimented with what he called "controlled chance" and he developed his views on aleatoric music in the articles "Aléa" and "Sonate, que me veux-tu?".^[16] His use of chance, which he would later employ in compositions like Éclat (1965), Domaines (1961–68) and Rituel in Memoriam Bruno Maderna (1974–75), is very different from that in the works of, for example, John Cage. While in Cage's music the performers are often given the freedom to create completely unforeseen sounds, with the object of removing the composer's intention from the music, in works by Boulez they only get to choose between possibilities that have been written out in detail by the composer—a method that, when applied to the successional order of sections, is often described as "mobile form", a formal technique innovated by his colleague Earle Brown in 1952 and originally inspired by Alexander Calder's sculptures.^[17]

1970s[link]

Boulez's output since the late 1970s has been of a different kind since the early works that brought him to initial prominence. After a rapid succession of explosive works, such as the three cantatas on poetry by René Char, the first two piano sonatas, and other chamber music, compositions have tended to be contemplated and expanded over a long period of time, during which they were performed in various stages of development. ...explosante-fixe..., now resembling a flute concerto with electronics, was first published in 1971 as a sketch in the journal Tempo as a memorial tribute to Stravinsky, then worked out in various versions, including one for mixed octet with electronics performed in 1973. Éclat/Multiples has remained a large fragment, and Dérive II (1988/2002/2006) and Répons (1980/82/84) have been performed in various stages of development.

The desire to expand unrealized possibilities has also led Boulez to create related works in series. His early twelve miniatures for piano, Notations (1945), has, since the 1970s, been in the process of being expanded as an orchestral cycle. To date, at least seven movements have been completed, although only five have been performed. The material contained in Anthèmes for solo violin was later expanded into an extended composition for violin and electronics Anthèmes 2 and Boulez is currently developing it further into a large-scale work for violin and orchestra.^[18] Incises, a short work for solo piano, has since exploded into Sur Incises for three percussive groups (pianos, harps, percussion) in two very extended movements.

Electronic music[link]

After the 1960s, during which he had produced little, Boulez began to turn back to the electronic medium and to large extended works. Although unsatisfied with the products of his work with tape in the 1950s (Two Studies, Poésie pour pouvoir) he began to explore the possibilities of live electronic sound manipulation. His first attempt was the 1973 version of ...explosant/fixe.... However, at around this time president Georges Pompidou began to discuss with Boulez the possibility of creating an institute for the exploration and development of modern music where there would be a chance to explore the medium seriously. This was to become IRCAM.

At IRCAM, Boulez created an environment where composers would have at hand the best performers available, and where the most advanced technology and computer scientists would be at their service. Boulez now began to explore the use of electronic sound transformation in real time. Previously, electronic music had to be recorded to tape, which thus 'fixed' it. The temporal aspect of any live music making in which it played a part had to be coordinated with the tape exactly. Boulez found this impossibly restrictive. Now at IRCAM, he composed Répons, for six soloists, chamber orchestra, and live electronics. With the assistance of Andrew Gerzso Boulez fashioned a work in which the computer captured the resonance and spatialization of sounds created by the ensemble and processed them in real time.

Recent years[link]

Today, Boulez continues to be one of the leading exponents of music of the 20th century.^[9] His compositions have made a contribution to musical culture, and his advocacy of modern and postmodern music has been decisive for many. Boulez continues to conduct and compose. From 1976 to 1995, Boulez held the Chair in "Invention, technique et langage en musique" at the Collège de France. In 2002, he was awarded the Glenn Gould Prize for his contributions. In 2004, with festival director Michael Haefliger, he founded the Lucerne Festival Academy, a summer orchestral institute for young musicians, dedicated to music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.^[19] The resident professors are members of the Ensemble intercontemporain.

Boulez as a conductor[link]

The 1976 production of Der Ring des Nibelungen at Bayreuth Festival, conducted by Boulez

Boulez is also a conductor, known the world over having directed most of the world's leading symphony orchestras and ensembles since the late fifties. He served concurrently as musical advisor of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1970 to 1972, chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra from 1971 to 1975, and music director of the New York Philharmonic from 1971 to 1977. He is currently the Conductor Emeritus of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, after having been its Principal Guest Conductor. The orchestras which he has conducted in recent years include the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics, the London Symphony Orchestra (2004 tour), the Orchestre de Paris, the Ensemble InterContemporain, the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. In 2005, he began a collaboration with the Staatskapelle Berlin.

Boulez is particularly famed for his polished interpretations of twentieth century classics—Alban Berg, Claude Debussy, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schoenberg, Igor Stravinsky, Béla Bartók, Anton Webern and Edgard Varèse^[20]—as well as for numerous performances of contemporary music. Clarity, precision, rhythmic agility and a respect for the composers' intentions as notated in the musical score are the hallmarks of his conducting style.^{[21][22][23][24]} In 1984, he collaborated with Frank Zappa and conducted the Ensemble Intercontemporain, who performed three of Zappa's pieces. He never uses a baton, conducting with his hands alone. His nineteenth century repertoire focuses upon Ludwig van Beethoven, Hector Berlioz, Robert Schumann and especially Richard Wagner. His recording of Anton Bruckner's Eighth Symphony has met with considerable critical acclaim.^[25] In 1974, he also recorded Maurice Ravel's then little-known orchestral version of "Une Barque sur l'océan" from Miroirs, when there was still no printed score.^[26] The score was published only in 1983, and even then only in the first of two slightly different versions Ravel had made.

During his tenure as music director of the New York Philharmonic, he was criticized, even by members of the orchestra, for his concentration on modern repertoire at the expense of works by earlier composers.^{[citation needed]} Nonetheless, Boulez' controversial "Rug" concerts of contemporary music with members of the New York Philharmonic played a significant role in "bridging" the widening gap between the New York downtown music scene with concerts of "uptown" music, directed primarily at Columbia University by a former classmate at the Paris Conservatoire and a pupil of Leibowitz, Jacques-Louis Monod. In his 1981 volume of compilation of reviews from The New York Times, Facing the Music, critic Harold C. Schonberg includes a column in which he details how unhappy some members of the New York Philharmonic orchestra were with Boulez during his tenure.

Boulez and Roger Wright, Director of the BBC Proms returning to the Royal Albert Hall

Boulez has also conducted opera productions and made several recordings of opera. He joined the Bayreuth Festival's roster for 1966's Parsifal, after Hans Knappertsbusch died. Subsequently, he was the conductor for the 1976 centenary production of Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen, directed by Patrice Chéreau, recordings of which were commercially released in audio and video formats. Boulez reunited with Chéreau for a late seventies production of Alban Berg's Lulu at the Paris Opera (the first-ever production of the completed opera) and a 2007 production originating at Vienna's Theater an der Wien, later traveling to Amsterdam, of Leoš Janáček's From the House of the Dead, in what Boulez said was the last opera production that he would ever conduct.^[27] In 2004 and 2005, Boulez returned to Bayreuth to conduct a controversial new production of Parsifal directed by Christoph Schlingensief. Other operas Boulez conducted include Berg's Wozzeck (Opéra National de Paris), Wagner's Tristan und Isolde (Bayreuth, Japan tour), Bartók's Bluebeard's Castle (Aix-en-Provence Festival, choreographed by Pina Bausch, and concert performances), Debussy's Pelléas et Mélisande (productions for Covent Garden and WNO and concert performances with the Cleveland Orchestra) and Arnold Schoenberg's Moses und Aron (Amsterdam and Salzburg). On 15 August 2008, he conducted a concert of the music of Leoš Janáček for the BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall, preceded by a discussion of the music with Roger Wright, Director of the Proms, in the Royal College of Music.^[28] In 2010, Boulez finished recording his 15-year, multi-orchestra Mahler cycle for Deutsche Grammophon with the Adagio from Mahler's uncompleted Tenth Symphony with the Cleveland Orchestra. To celebrate Boulez’s 85th birthday Deutsche Grammophon releases his first-ever Karol Szymanowski recording featuring the composer’s popular Violin Concerto no. 1 and Symphony no. 3 “Song of the Night”, with the Wiener Philharmoniker, violinist Christian Tetzlaff, tenor Steve Davislim and the Wiener Singverein.

Boulez as a writer[link]

Boulez is also an articulate, perceptive and sweeping writer on music.^[29] He has written on questions of technique and aesthetics in a deeply reflective if sometimes elliptical manner. These writings have mostly been republished under the titles Stocktakings from an Apprenticeship, Orientations: Collected Writings, and Boulez on Music Today, as well as in the journal of the Darmstadt composers of the time, Die Reihe. A third edition of the French texts, with previously uncollected material, has appeared under the title Points de repère I, II, and III.^[30]

Two interviews with Pierre Boulez were published in 2007 and 2008.^[31]

Awards[link]

• Ernst von Siemens Music Prize (1979)
• Sonning Award (1985) Denmark
• Polar Music Prize (1996)
• Wolf Prize (2000) Israel
• Grawemeyer Award (2001) United States for Sur Incises
• Glenn Gould Prize (2002) Canada
• Yale University's Sanford Medal.^[32]
• Kyoto Prize (2009) Arts & Philosophy
• Edison Award (2010) Classical Music
• Gramophone Hall of Fame entrant (2012)^[33]

Compositions[link]

• Piano Sonata No. 1 (1946)
• Le visage nuptial (soprano, alto, female chorus and orchestra, 1946/51/88–89)
• Piano Sonata No. 2 (1947–48)
• Le soleil des eaux (soprano solo, mixed choir, orchestra, 1948/50/58/65)
• Livre pour quatuor (string quartet, 1948–49)
• Polyphonie X (1951)
• Structures, Livres I et II (2 pianos, 1952 and 1961, respectively)
• Le marteau sans maître (alto, alto flute, guitar, vibraphone, xylorimba, percussion and viola, 1953–55)
• Piano Sonata No. 3 (1955–57/63 ...) (Unfinished: only two of the five movements have been published in final form.)
• Pli selon pli (soprano and orchestra, 1957–89)
• Figures, doubles, prismes (large orchestra, 1957–68)
• Éclat/Multiples (ensemble, 1965–70)
• Domaines (clarinet solo, 1968–69)
• Domaines (clarinet and ensemble, 1968–69)
• Cummings ist der Dichter (for chorus and ensemble, 1970)
• Rituel: In Memoriam Bruno Maderna (orchestra, 1974–75)
• Messagesquisse (seven cellos, 1976–77)
• Notations (piano version 1945, orchestral version 1978/1999–...)
• Répons (two pianos, harp, vibraphone, glockenspiel, cimbalom, orchestra and electronics, 1980–84)
• Dialogue de l'ombre double (for clarinet and electronics, 1982–85)
• Dérive 1 (for six instruments, 1984)
• Dérive 2 (for eleven instruments, 1988–2006)
• ...explosante-fixe... (first version for flute, clarinet and trumpet, 1972; second version for octet and electronics, 1973–74; third version for vibraphone and electronics, 1985; fourth version for MIDI-flute, chamber orchestra and electronics, 1991–93)
• Sur Incises (3 pianos, 3 harps and 3 percussion parts, 1996–98)
• Dialogue de l'ombre double (transcribed for bassoon and electronics, 1985/1995)
• Anthèmes 2 (violin and electronics, 1998)
• Une page d’éphéméride (piano, 2005)

Bibliography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

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