BIO

Xuanren Weng is a composer, arranger, orchestrator, and producer from China. His work moves across jazz, film scoring, and contemporary composition. He is currently studying jazz composition and film scoring at Berklee College of Music, while also independently studying classical and contemporary music. Rather than adhering to a single tradition, Weng aims to bring together diverse musical languages.

ABOUT MUSIC

Exploring music, for me, feels like staring into an abyss.

The deeper I look, the less I feel I can hold onto. Sometimes I feel frightened; there is always more I don't understand and more I am not yet able to do. Yet this sense of endlessness is exactly what draws me in. Music is not something to be conquered; it is a world that continues to grow without limit. As Ryuichi Sakamoto was fond of saying, "Ars longa, vita brevis." What I want is to learn as much as possible in my limited life, and not only music.

I was first drawn to music through video game soundtracks. Back then everything was simple: I loved how they made me feel and wanted to create that kind of music myself. Later, I studied jazz composition and film scoring in college, while also pursuing classical and contemporary composition independently.

I found myself wanting more than writing music that serves only an external media. Images and stories are still, in my view, powerful context for music. Music can intensify the emotions of an image, and at the same time, images can deepen the way people feel the music. But more and more, I also want the music itself to carry that same emotional intensity through the notes alone. Because in the midst of ongoing learning, I can feel this power from many great works.

I am a student, and I hope to always be one. Perhaps I am simply love growth and change itself, which is why I am always longing to learn, to change. I don't know what kind of person I will become, but I hope I can keep learning, and eventually, perhaps, in time, to contribute something new.