Lei Liang (Chinese: 梁雷; pinyin: Liáng Léi; born November 28, 1972, in Tianjin, China) is a Chinese-born American composer who was a winner of the Grawemeyer Award and a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Music.
Liang came to the United States in 1990 for further studies, receiving BM and MM degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music, both with academic honors and distinction in performance, and a Junior Fellowship and Ph.D. from Harvard University.
Lei Liang was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and its music director Alan Gilbert for the inaugural concert of the CONTACT!
He studied composition at New England Conservatory of Music, where he received both a BM and a MM and then took his PhD at Harvard University as a recipient of The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans.
[3] In interviews and his own writings, Lei Liang credits Harvard ethnomusicologist Rulan Chao Pian as his most important mentor and personal influence.
In 2023, the Institute launched "Lei Lab"[5] where he continues to collaborate with engineers, geologists, oceanographers and software developers, to explore what he calls "the unique potential for learning offered by creative listening."