Color photograph of an Asian man with dark hair wearing a dark suit and tie as he looks at the camera

Baldwin Giang

Samuel Barber Rome Prize
September 1, 2023–July 5, 2024
Profession
PhD Candidate in Music Composition, University of Chicago
Project title
Transnational Queerness: Three Compositions Reflecting on City Life, Queerness, and Romance
Project description

At the American Academy in Rome, I plan to compose three major works inspired by diasporic as well as local experiences of queerness. The first, a commission from the New York–based Loadbang Ensemble, reflects on my identity as a queer composer with Chinese and Vietnamese descent. The second commission is from the Brussels-based Extended Music Collective, inspired by the multilayered architecture and history of the Basilica San Clemente in Rome, as well as its depiction in the queer classic Call Me by Your Name. Thirdly, I plan to complete an ongoing series of microtonal indie-pop songs that reflect on city life, queerness, and romance, with potential contributions from poets living in Rome.