Alexander Wang Leehom

Date of Birth: 5/17/1976
Birth Place: Rochester, New York, USA
Ethnicity: Chinese

Taken from Wang Lee Hom's Wikipedia Article
Lee-Hom Wang was born in Rochester, New York on May 17, 1976. He studied music at Williams College and the Berklee College of Music. Hailing from Williams College, a liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, Lee-Hom furthered his education at Berkley with (Jazz Piano & Composition). He has become one of the many new songwriters and musicians revolutionizing the Chinese music industry. He is active in all areas of musical production, from composing to producing, to arranging pieces, to writing lyrics (although he did not learn to speak fluent Chinese until he was 18), to playing instrumental accompaniments, to directing his own music videos.

Lee-Hom comes from a high pedigree of academics; his father is a pediatrician, his older brother, Leo (Lee-De) Wang was a student at Yale University and is presently a doctor residing in Chicago, Illinois, his younger brother, Lee-Kai Wang is a student at MIT in Cambridge, MA, and many of his relatives are doctors. Like much of his family, Lee-Hom had considered pursuing a medical career. However, at the last minute Lee-Hom realized his true passion was for music. Amidst criticism from his family, Lee-Hom decided to attend Williams College to pursue his dream to become a musician. Although this decision was unconventional, Lee-Hom was willing to take this risk and his choice has proven to be a wise one. By combining western music with classical Chinese instruments, Lee-Hom has given a unique twist to Chinese music. Having eleven Mandarin albums to his credit, Lee-Hom has yet to produce an English album but remains one of the main songwriters and producers for Sony BMG. He also owns two Homeboy Music Studios situated in Taiwan and New York.

On his tenth album, Shangri-La, Lee-Hom incorporated the often unheard music of the minorities of China into a style he coined "chinked out". He experimented with the tribal sounds of China, Tibet, and Mongolia, traveling the area carrying 15 kg of equipment while fighting bouts of altitude and food sickness. His next album will be released on 31 December 2005, and he has infused elements of Beijing opera into the songs, continuing the "chinked out" spirit. Not much about Lee-Hom's personal life is known, much to his credit. Unlike many of his Eastern and Western counterparts, Lee-Hom has kept his private life to himself and his dignity intact - he is a musician first and foremost. Lee-Hom is quoted as saying, "Rumours don't bother me much now, although it's still annoying at times because it isn't true. I just don't want to come out and make the news bigger. I do music and I want to focus all my energy on this and have no desire to use tabloids to promote myself. I don't want to waste my energy holding press conferences to deny my relationship with certain people or to say that I am not gay because it's just not in my interest." It is this aspect of Lee-Hom's character that many fans respect.

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