Renowned Chinese composer Chen Kun explores new musical vistas by blending traditional music with cutting-edge technology.
Red Sorghum (1988), A Bite of China (2012), The Wandering Earth (2019) — these films and television works owe much of their sensational success to their brilliant soundtracks.
Behind these iconic scores stands a single name: Chen Kun, also known by his stage name Roc Chen.
As a renowned Chinese composer and music producer, Chen has contributed to over 150 projects, with the films he has worked on collectively earning more than 20 billion yuan at the box office.
Now, Chen has curated his classic film and television scores for a live concert titled Roc Chen's Universe.
Performed by an electronic band together with orchestral musicians, this auditory feast premiered in his hometown of Chengdu, Sichuan province, on Oct 7 and will hit Shanghai on Dec 31, New Year's Eve. Chen regards this concert as the "culmination and selection" of his career in film scoring.
In addition to familiar classics, he also introduced Space Station Falling from The Wandering Earth — a track that has never been released on music platforms. To the audience's surprise, the piece was performed by an AI-generated digital singer named Leah.
"This piece is about the collapse of human hope — an apocalyptic feeling, conveyed through a female voice," Chen explained. "I initially considered inviting a female singer, but as a film composer with a technological edge, I wanted to offer the audience something truly fresh."
Chen places great emphasis on integrating technology into music, describing his approach as "playing the piano keyboard with one hand and pressing the computer keyboard with the other".
During his middle school years, he won top awards in municipal programming competitions. He later pursued a degree in communication engineering at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, where he was exposed to both electronic science and symphony orchestras. His journey into music composition began when he enrolled at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music for graduate studies.
"You can compose music using numbers, formulas, or by applying digital processing methods to music creation," Chen explained.
On a TV reality show, he composed a melody based on the birthdate of Chinese actor Wang Yibo, which received widespread acclaim.
He also frequently uses computers to process the timbre of musical instruments in innovative ways.
"We can use scientific methods to achieve harmony in music, such as controlling chords, rhythms, and synthesizing sounds," Chen said. But that's just the rational part of music. "The interpretation by singers completes the emotional expression," he said.
"Both rationality and emotion are crucial aspects of our humanity. Music is a perfect blend of both," he added.
