Jingyu Chen
Jingyu is one of eight composers selected for a place on the 2027 RPS Composers programme. This will culminate in her writing a new piece, commissioned by the RPS, for Presteigne Festival.
On this page, Jingyu introduces herself in her own words, and shares links to her music, her website, and her social media platforms. We warmly invite programmers and commissioners to take a closer look at Jingyu's work, and please be in touch with us if you would like to connect with her.
About Jingyu
'I’m a Chinese-British composer whose music is shaped by colour, resonance and subtle transformation. My music is inspired by light and nature, creating luminous and poetic sound worlds through gradually changing textures and flowing melodic lines. I began studying classical piano at an early age and, over time, became increasingly drawn to composition as a way of creating my own musical sound world. I am particularly fascinated by how subtle changes in sound can transform our perception of time and atmosphere.
My music is often inspired by a fleeting moment or scene that awakens an emotional response and stays with me, such as sunlight shifting across water in Albany in June, or reeds moving gently in the wind at Snape Maltings in September. Through music, I try to capture the distinctive atmosphere and emotions these moments and places evoke, inviting listeners to experience something of what I felt. Flowing lines emerge from and dissolve into resonant textures, while subtle shifts of timbre, register, articulation and density allow these sound worlds to breathe and transform.
Influenced by an East Asian appreciation of restraint, suggestion and the expressive power of what remains unsaid, I am interested in exploring how these aesthetic ideas can be expressed through my musical language, leaving space for listeners to bring their own imagination and emotional experiences to the music. Working with performers has also become increasingly central to my compositional process. I enjoy exploring how each ensemble’s distinctive instrumentation and musical character can open up new expressive possibilities, while remaining receptive to ideas that emerge through dialogue and rehearsal.’
Highlights
- Jingyu is a 2026-27 Britten Pears Young Artist, working with composers Colin Matthews, Mark-Anthony Turnage and Helen Grime. She will have a new work performed at the Aldeburgh Festival in June 2027.
- She is also part of the 2026-27 ABRSM Writing for Music Education composer mentoring programme.
- Two of Jingyu’s works, the orchestral work Nebula and …As a Petal Blown by the Wind for violin and piano, are published by Zen-On Music in Japan.
- Silver Over Water was performed for the first time in June 2026 by Albany Symphony musicians at the American Music Festival in Troy, New York, conducted by two-time Grammy Award-winning conductor David Alan Miller.
- Jingyu was awarded First Prize in the 2024 Tōru Takemitsu Composition Award for Nebula, which was first performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, and has since been broadcast on NHK Radio in Japan.
Find out more
The RPS Composers programme could not happen without the support of RPS Members, PRS Foundation Talent Development Network supported by PPL, Delius Trust, Fidelio Charitable Trust, Garrick Charitable Trust, Idlewild Trust, John Ellerman Foundation, Marchus Trust, Presteigne Festival, RPS Susan Bradshaw Composers' Fund, Vaughan Williams Foundation, WildKat, and several anonymous donors.
