Rebel with a score

Crossover composer Wang Feinan delights in merging the strict structure of classical music with the freedom of contemporary genres, Chen Nan discovers.

As the vice-president of China's Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, Ye Xiaogang has trained many talented young Chinese musicians, who now enjoy global reputations. Ye, one of the leading contemporary Chinese composers, has had a few female students, including the "most rebellious and creative" Wang Feinan. At 27, Wang is now a doctor of musical arts candidate at Boston University.

"She has her own musical language and a unique point of view from a female angle," says Ye, 58, comparing her to one of his contemporaries, the vocalist and composer Liu Suola.