A Conversation with Composer Huang Ruo

Photo: David Jaewon Oh

We are honored to introduce Huang Ruo as Seattle Opera’s inaugural Composer-in-Residence, whose output includes ten operas and many symphonic works. Huang Ruo is the award-winning composer of An American Soldier, The Monkey King, M. Butterfly, and other acclaimed works, who has been praised by The New York Times for his “distinctive style.” His music and operas have been performed by leading companies and orchestras around the world, including the New York Philharmonic, Santa Fe Opera, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Opera, Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, and Royal Danish Opera. In this conversation, he talks about his upcoming residency, the state of American opera, his ongoing collaboration with librettist David Henry Hwang, and how his father influenced his career.

SEATTLE OPERA: I thought we could just start with the big picture. What does being named as a Composer-in-Residence mean to you and what do you hope to accomplish during your time with Seattle Opera?

HUANG RUO: This is truly an honor, and I'm deeply humbled by this invitation. This is a rare opportunity. Residencies are more common in the symphonic world, but for opera it’s the rarest of the rare. I think this shows the vision of Seattle Opera—not only for the present, but also for the future. I'm extremely happy and excited about this new adventure that I don't take this lightly.

SEATTLE OPERA: Your residency will begin with our premiere of your opera M. Butterfly.

HUANG RUO: Yes, it will. Bringing M. Butterfly to Seattle is tremendously meaningful to me, especially in 2027, which is the opera’s fifth anniversary. As the Composer-in-Residence, I hope to engage deeply with your audience, your patrons, your wonderful staff, artists, and musicians. I’m looking forward to sharing this opera’s story and music throughout the community.

It’s not just my responsibility as the composer to coach the musicians but also to work with the entire company and to help bring the community inside Seattle Opera, so that it’s their artistic home too.

SEATTLE OPERA: As a composer, you’ve written pieces for all genres—pieces for large and small instrumental ensembles, pieces for voice, pieces for both instruments and voice, and numerous operas. You’ve even written pieces for soundscapes and architectural installations. Do you have a favorite genre?

HUANG RUO: It's always hard to pick your favorite child, and I love all art forms. But of course, I have limited capacity, so I always come back to opera. I love the human voice and love writing for it. No two voices are exactly the same. For example, two sopranos singing the same aria will sound different. That’s the nature of the human voice and it’s a challenge for composers. But, I think that’s the beauty of it.

In addition to all the genres you mentioned, I'm also a conceptual artist. I created a large-scale symphony for an entire city to perform called City of Floating Sounds. It was done in Manchester, England, using an app, and mobile phones, which everybody has. Participants downloaded the app that had parts of the soundtrack from the City of Floating Sounds symphony to play as they moved around the city. Thousands of citizens became “musicians” playing with various symphonic instruments with their mobile phones. And when they came together their interactions created a kinetic sound map.

Karen Vuong (center) performed the role of Diane Tran in Seattle Opera's 2023 production of Huang Ruo's chamber opera Bound. Nina Yoshida Nelsen (left) and Daniel Klein (right) sang the roles of Khanh and Stanley/Judge Moriarty respectively.
Photo: Sunny Martini

SEATTLE OPERA: What other things do you want our audience to know about you as we introduce them to you in this new capacity?

HAUNG RUO: My father was a composer, so I'm a second-generation composer, educator, and conductor. I grew up in Southern China, where my first experience with music was Chinese opera. So, before I even heard  Western symphonic works, which was as a teenager,  I was exposed to Chinese opera. I love the art form because it felt natural to me, because performers act, play instruments, and move all at the same time. Chinese opera has influenced my instrumental works. I  have musicians move around and do things more than just playing notes from the score.  I have a great appreciation for Western opera.

I think that I’m uniquely positioned to merge both art forms. My operas are more than “East meets West.” I call this “Third Culture”: merging different art forms, different cultures, to create something entirely new. 

SEATTLE OPERA: As a member of a cohort of new opera composers working in American opera, what do you think are the most promising directions that American opera is heading in?

HUANG RUO: At a conference about 10 years or more years ago, a question was raised: How do you define American opera? Some people said it was minimalism, others said pop-music influenced, while others said it was jazz and cabaret. Some attendees called it “new romanticism.” I thought: what about multiculturalism?

A few years later, in consultation with a group of composers of color, including Anthony Davis and Gabriela Ortiz, and myself,  Opera America established a series of grants to support women creators and creators of color. Now when I look around the American opera landscape, I see a diverse group of creators making operas that represent their communities. Composers like Anthony Davis, who has been writing opera since the ‘80s, Terence Blanchard, Gabby Frank [whose opera El último sueño de Frida y Diego will be at Seattle Opera in January], and Rhiannon Giddens. I'm one of the several Asian American composers working in this landscape. With new operas my colleagues and I are a new generation of American opera composers and creators. We are part of the American fabric. I do feel together we’ve created a movement and are a vital part of a renaissance of American opera. 

Audiences like new stories that they can relate to. Many of the new pieces outsell traditional operas, and more people are open and willing to experience these new works. Last year’s eight performances of my opera The Monkey King with the San Francisco Opera were completely sold out before the first performance. Forty percent of the audience was new. That’s great for the industry. 

SEATTLE OPERA: You’ve worked with playwright David Henry Hwang on several projects. How would you describe your relationship?

HUANG RUO: David is  my longtime collaborator, and he’s my mentor—someone I go to when I have questions. As a prolific playwright, David has also written for television, film, and opera. Even through different art forms, David is always consistent with his creations and heritage. He tells stories from his perspective as an Asian American.

I’ve collaborated with him on four operas so far. The first one, An American Soldier, is based on the life and death of Private Danny Chen. That’s a realist opera reflecting on racism towards Asian Americans. Then we did M. Butterfly, which is a reversal of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, dealing with gender fluidity, relationship and balance of power between the East and West. Our third opera is The Rift. It explores the controversial creation of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial by young artist Maya Lin, who is an Asian American, born and grew up in the mid-west. Once asked by 60 Minutes’ anchor Morley Safer, “How Chinese are you,” her reply, “As apple pie.” And the fourth is The Monkey King, which was partially as a reaction to the wave of racial discrimination towards Asian Americans that took place during the pandemic. David and I felt an urgency to create a work inspired by an iconic Chinese legendary super-hero, who could bring positive energy and imagery to our community. 

Working with David is a great joy. I’ve learned so much from him, particularly how to make our arts and artistry meaningful and timely, reflecting on the world we live in, and inspiring our society towards a better tomorrow. I look forward to working together with David on future projects. 

SEATTLE OPERA: Did you always want to follow in your father's footsteps, or did it just happen? 

HUANG RUO: My father and my mom both loved music. But sometimes it’s hard learning from your parents, no matter how much you love them. This was the case with my father and me. He was a composer. When I was young, I never listened to his advice. Now, sometimes, I regret that I didn’t. I should’ve listened to him more while he was still with me.

Like many Chinese kids, I started with the piano. But I had terrible stage fright, and I often had memory slips while playing, particularly on Bach. My teacher would tell me, “If you ever get stuck, do not stop and never go back to the beginning to replay the whole piece again.” One time when I had awful stage fright and forgot my music, I improvised in the style of Bach for a few seconds until I was able to remember. After that experience, my teacher told my father that I wasn’t going  be a good pianist, but that I might be a good composer. That’s when he sent me to Shanghai to study music. I was 12. 

To convince me to go to Shanghai, he gave me the following advice: composers don’t have to memorize music because they play their own, and the only person who will know if you messed up is you, the audience will never know the difference. I was delighted to longer memorize Bach. And thankfully, I fell into composing.  It’s been a wonderful journey that I am still walking on and amazed by.

Learn more about the Composer-in-Residence role and read the full press release on our website at seattleopera.org/huangruo.