Baldwin Giang

About Baldwin Giang

Creator During the 2024-2025 Season

Baldwin Giang is an internationally performed composer, pianist, interdisciplinary creator, and educator whose music aims to empower communities of audiences and performers by creating concert experiences that are opportunities for collective wonder and judgment. He won the Samuel Barber Rome Prize and was in residence as a fellow at the American Academy in Rome from 2023-2024. Baldwin recently completed a 2022-2023 Fulbright artist Fellowship in Taiwan and was appointed as a composer-in-residence with the Louisville Orchestra in 2024-2025. Described as “taut and cohesive…challenging and rewarding” (Cacophony), Baldwin’s music has been performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, Symphony Center in Chicago, and Chateau de Fontainebleau.

Baldwin’s work has been presented at numerous festivals throughout North America and Europe. Baldwin is a graduate of Yale University, earning a B.A. with Honors in both Music and Political Science, and the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, earning an M.A. as a Regents Fellow. He is currently a PhD student and Division of Humanities Fellow at the University of Chicago.

PIPA BOY III: “encounters between past and future” (2025)

World premiere by the Louisville Orchestra and Baldwin Giang (pipa) on April 26, 2025.

The PIPA BOY series began during my Fulbright Artist Fellowship in Taiwan, where I studied how to play the pipa (a traditional Chinese lute) and composed for the instrument. Conceptualizing a hybrid context in which to feature the pipa alongside Western instruments, I realized that the pipa is as much a product of human migration as I am. The video part to PIPA BOY features myself in places where I’ve lived in which identity needs to be interpreted and negotiated, and critically imagines what belonging to a diaspora could mean in the future.

This orchestral version and wholescale musical revision of PIPA BOY III was commissioned by the Louisville Orchestra's Creators Corps program for the occasion of their In Harmony Tour.

Full Program Notes

gift of tongues (2025)

World premiere by the Louisville Orchestra and Scott Leger (horn) on May 9, 2025.

At a time when our country is more divided than ever, I reflected on a passage from the bible that is particularly important to many Pentecostal communities in Kentucky. In Acts of the Apostles Chapter 2, on the day of the Pentecost, Jesus gives his disciples the ability to suddenly be heard speaking in languages they did not know. Rather than attempting a kind of programmatic description, my horn concerto investigates the affects and emotional content of a miraculous moment when divided communities could, in an instant, feel recognized and heard. As a political metaphor, I think the gift of tongues is a particularly utopian and desirable vision for our world today. Though sustained hard work bridging political lines is no doubt necessary, perhaps this passage reminds us that we must also be open to the serendipitous and surprising moments when we can connect with those of radically different political communities.

Full Program Notes

Songwriting Workshops

In the 2024-25 season, Baldwin Giang led a series of songwriting workshops in partnership with the Louisville Pride Foundation. This unique collaboration invited LGBTQ+ individuals from different generations to share messages they believe are essential for others to hear. Eight participants worked in four songwriting pairs to transform these personal reflections into original musical compositions, guided by Giang and performed by Louisville Orchestra musicians.

All Performances

Friday, November 15, 2024 | Coffee: Ray Chen Plays Barber | Whitney Hall | intimacies, interruptions
Saturday, November 16, 2024 | Classics: Ray Chen Plays Barber | Whitney Hall | intimacies, interruptions
Thursday, March 27, 2025 | Music Without Borders: Improvisations and Inspirations | The Jeffersonian | leviathan
Friday, March 28, 2025 | Music Without Borders: Improvisations and Inspirations | Neighborhood House | leviathan
Saturday, March 29, 2025 | Music Without Borders: Improvisations and Inspirations | California Community Center | leviathan
Saturday, April 26, 2025 | In Harmony Commonwealth Tour | Martha Layne Collins High School (Shelbyville, KY) | PIPA BOY III: encounters between past and future
Tuesday, April 29, 2025 | In Harmony Commonwealth Tour | Mountain Arts Center (Prestonsburg, KY) | PIPA BOY III: encounters between past and future
Wednesday, April 30, 2025 | In Harmony Commonwealth Tour | Paramount Arts Center (Ashland, KY) | PIPA BOY III: encounters between past and future
Thursday, May 1, 2025 | In Harmony Commonwealth Tour | Montgomery County High School (Mt. Sterling, KY) | PIPA BOY III: encounters between past and future
Friday, May 9, 2025 | Coffee: Creators Fest | Whitney Hall | gift of tongues
Saturday, May 9, 2025 | Coffee: Creators Fest | Whitney Hall | gift of tongues