Tan Dun (simplified Chinese: Tan Dun ; traditional Chinese: Tan Dun ; pinyin: Tan Dun, Mandarin pronunciation: [than tu@n]; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary classical composer and conductor, most widely known for his scores for the movies Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Hero, as well as composing music for the medal ceremonies at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His works often incorporate audiovisual elements; use instruments constructed from organic materials, such as paper, water, and stone; and are often inspired by traditional Chinese theatrical and ritual performance. In 2013, he was named a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. He has won numerous awards for his works, including an Academy Award, a Grammy Award and a BAFTA award.
Tan Dun earned more widespread attention after composing the score for Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), for which he won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a BAFTA Award. Other film credits include the aforementioned Hero (Zhang Yimou, 2002), Gregory Hoblit's Fallen (1998), and Feng Xiaogang's The Banquet (2006). Following the composition of the film score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Tan Dun rearranged the music to create the Crouching Tiger Concerto for cello, video, and chamber orchestra. Containing edited footage from the film, this work reverses the role of music in film by treating video as secondary. This same technique was later applied to his film scores for Hero and The Banquet, resulting in the larger work known as the Martial Arts Cycle. In 2002, Tan Dun continued experimenting with application of video in music The Map, also for cello, video, and orchestra. The Map features documentary footage depicting the lives of China's Tujia, Miao, and Dong ethnic minorities. The musicians onstage, including the cello soloist, interact with the musicians onscreen--a duet of live and recorded performance. The work was premiered and commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma. Tan Dun's most recent multimedia work, Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women (2013), is a 13-movement work for video, solo harp, and orchestra. Following years of ethnomusicological research in Hunan, the work captures the sounds of Nushu script, a phonetic writing system devised by women speakers of the Shaozhou Tuhua dialect who had been disallowed from receiving formal education. Considered a dying language, Tan Dun's research resulted in a series of short films of women singing songs written in Nushu, which are presented alongside the orchestral performance. As with The Map, the songs in the video are used in counterpoint to the live music.

Q: What did Tan do with film?
A: Tan Dun earned more widespread attention after composing the score for Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000),

Q: Did he get any awards for this?
A: he won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, and a BAFTA Award.

Q: What was his next notable project?
A: Tan Dun rearranged the music to create the Crouching Tiger Concerto for cello, video, and chamber orchestra.

Q: How was that show recieved?
A: unknown

Q: What did he do in multimedia?
A: In 2002, Tan Dun continued experimenting with application of video in music The Map, also for cello, video, and orchestra.

Q: Can you elaborate on this?
A: The Map features documentary footage depicting the lives of China's Tujia, Miao, and Dong ethnic minorities.
How was that project received?
The work was premiered and commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma. work was premiered and commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma. The work was premiered and commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma.
The work was premiered and commissioned by the Boston Symphony Orchestra with Yo-Yo Ma.