Born in 1962 in Vietnam, he became interested in music while studying architecture in 1978 and taught himself to play the piano, compose, and orchestrate. In 1982, he immigrated to the United States and began his formal musical training. He earned his bm from University of Southern California and his dma in Composition from University of Michigan.
Phan’s music has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, England, France, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Lit-huania, Russia, Israel, Turkey, Australia, New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Korea, and Japan. His music has been performed by the bbc Scottish Symphony, Radio France, the Kronos Quartet, the American Composers Orchestra, Saint Louis Chamber Group, Cincinnati Orchestra, the Charleston Symphony, Sinfonia da Camera, Society for New Music, and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony. He has receiv-ed numerous commissions, including those from the Kronos Quartet and the Cleveland Chamber Symphony.
His honours include the 1997 Prix de Rome and several ascap Awards. He has received awards and fellowships from the Ohio Arts Council, the Charles Ives Center for American Music and the Concordia Orchestra. He has held residencies at the MacDowell Colony, the Univesity of Iowa (with the Kronos Quartet) and at the Asian Composers’ Forum.
At the moment, P.Q. Phan writes music which integrates the aesthetics of Southeast-Asia and the West. He is currently an Assistant Professor in composition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.