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Litang Shao BA, MMus, PhD, PGDE, QTS, FHEA

Dr Litang Shao

(she/her)

BA, MMus, PhD, PGDE, QTS, FHEA

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Available for postgraduate supervision

Teams and roles for Litang Shao

Overview

Kiko Litang Shao is an active composer from Hong Kong, currently based in the UK. She received her PhD in music composition at the University of Hong Kong and a Master of Music at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She is currently a lecturer in Music and Co-Director of International Engagement at the School of Music.

Notable recent achievements include receiving the Doming Lam Composition Award 2025 from the Hong Kong Composers’ Guild and the Acapela Studio Award for Composer 2025 for an outstanding Welsh Composer by the Welsh Music Guild. Kiko was also selected for BBC Composition: Wales 2025, where her orchestral piece was premiered by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in March. She was commissioned by Wales’s new music UPROAR Ensemble to compose a large ensemble piece, Floating Theatre, which toured across Wales in March 2025. In addition, her mixed octet piece'The leaf says...'  was shortlisted for the ISCM World Music Days 2023. 

Beyond the UK, Kiko's compositions have been performed globally. She was the selected young composer at Germany's Young China: Ten Talented Composers chamber music festival. She also won the third prize in the Seventh ConTempo New Chamber Music Composition Competition in China. Kiko’s works have been performed by major ensembles and players such as the Riot Ensemble in the UK, American Mivos Quartet, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts Orchestra, Windpipe Chinese Music Ensemble, Yuanyang Chinese Music Ensemble of Central Conservatory of Music, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Szymanowski Quartet, and Sonar Quartet in Germany, Treephonia ensemble in London, etc.

In addition to her academic compositions, Kiko also enjoys composing music for commercial and popular media. One notable example is her pop song 《快乐的扑满》, which is the theme song for the well-known animated series 巴啦啦小魔仙 (Balala the Fairies). This song has been widely performed across different countries, particularly in China,  and has become a favourite song among young performers and audiences. Kiko also collaborated with renowned Hong Kong pop music composer Mark Lui (雷頌德) and artist Justin Lo (側田) before, further showcasing her versatility across musical genres.

Apart from being a composer, Kiko is also deeply passionate about music education, with a particular interest in inclusive and diverse teaching strategies, collaborative learning and teaching, and the integration of digital technology in music education. She has several years of teaching experience in both primary and secondary schools.

Kiko is currently a trustee of the Tŷ Cerdd Wales Welsh Music,  and a member of the Hong Kong Composer Guild and Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong. 

 

 

Research

Current projects:

  •         A new commission vocal and piano piece by the Welsh Music Guild

  •         A new composition for Pipa soloist recording project

Recent projects:

2025

  • From Tradition to Inspiration in Cantonese Music: A Composer’s Perspective on Its Development and Preservation Presented at: 6th Silpakorn Conference on Sound and Music 2025(SICSAM), Bangkok Art and Culture Centre(BACC), Thailand, 10-12 June 2025.

  • Floating Theatre (2025) for large mixed ensemble (13’) was commissioned by UPROAR Ensemble, premiered and toured in ‘Ligeti’s Chamber Concerto plus new music from Wales Touring March 2025’.  

  • Nostalgia of Lingnan(2025) for mixed ensemble (7’), premiered at St Mary Le Strand Church, London by Pavilion Ensemble on 28 March 2025.

  • Dim Sum Fantasia (2025) for orchestra (10’), selected by ‘Composition: Wales’ programme, and premiered by BBC National Orchestra of Wales on 26 March 2025.

  • Hymn to the Lord of light (2025) for Choir and Guzheng (5’30’’), commissioned by Multitude of Voyces, premiered by Salford Cathedral Choir at Church of the Holy Name of Jesus, Manchester on 1 March 2025.

  • Peer review for the paper "Am I too old to do it? Composing music extemporaneously outside of time. A musical practice to live in the present and improve individual and collective well-being" for The International Journal of Music, Health, and Wellbeing.

2024

  • Autumn Leaves for Pipa solo (2024) was selected for the Pipa Contemporary Music Call for Score Concert, and premiered by Lv Yizhen in the ‘Transient Echo’ concert on 29 August.

  • Capriccio of Cantonese Shadows (2024) for string quartet, premiered by American new music ensemble Mivos Quartet in the Music Salon Concert II organised by Hong Kong Composers’ Guild on 4 May 2024.

  • Time Spectrum (2023) for Clarinet, Violoncello and Piano, performed by RIOT Ensemble at Cardiff University concert hall on 16 April 2024.

2023

  • Piu Sik for piano solo (2022-23)was selected for the Chinese Contemporary Piano Composition Festival and was performed at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music concert hall in Guangzhou on 16 November, 2023.
  • Autumn Leaves I for Pipa solo (2023) was selected for the'Composing for Pipa' composer scheme organsied by the contemporary ensemble Psappha. This piece was recorded by pipa virtuoso ChengYu. 
  • Piu Sik for piano solo (2022-23) was premiered by Clare Hammond's recital in the Cardiff University School of Music Concert Hall on 21 February 2023.

2022

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching:

  • Composition 2A (module leader and tutoring), 2022-present
  • Composition 2B (tutoring), 2021-present
  • Orchestration (module leader), 2023- present
  • Elements of Tonal Music (seminars), 2021-2024
  • Composition 3 (final year composition portfolio individual supervision)
  • Tonal Common Practice: Styles and Technique, 2021-2022

Postgraduate Teaching:

  • MA Music Education supervision, 2025
  • Research Skills (module leader 202-2024, contribute to specialist lectures 2022-present)
  • 20th and 21st Century Music (seminars), 2021-2024
  • MA Composition supervision, 2022 - present
  • Cultures of Performance (seminars), 2022-present

Other University Teaching Affiliations

  • Postgraduate research student annual review panel
  • HEA Fellowship mentor and assessor 

Biography

Education and Qualifications

  • 2023 HEA Fellowship (FHEA)
  • 2021 Qualified teacher status(QTS) in England and Wales
  • 2020 Postgraduate Diploma in Education with Academic Performance Award (The Chinese University of Hong Kong)
  • 2016 PhD in Music Composition (The University of Hong Kong)
  • 2013 Certificate of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (The University of Hong Kong)
  • 2011 Master of Music in Composition (The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts)
  • 2009 Bachelor of Arts in Music Composition with Outstanding Graduate Award (Xinghai Conservatory of Music,Guangzhou)

Honours and awards

  • Doming Lam Composition Award 2025 by Hong Kong Composer Guild (2025)
  • Acapela Studio Award for Composer 2025 by Welsh Music Guild (2025)
  • Outstanding Contribution Award, Cardiff University(2023)
  • Academic Performance Award, Postgraduate Diploma in Education, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2020)
  • Selected composer for Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Net Festival – 'With New Tunes, We Connect'  (2020)
  • CASH Best Speech Choir Composition Gold Award, Hong Kong Speech Choir Festival (2019)
  • Selected composer of Music from the Heart Concert by Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (2018)
  • Best Instrumental Music Award, LingNan Music Annual Best Composition Competition,Guangdong, China (2015)
  • Third Prize, The 7th Con Tempo Chinese New Chamber Music Composition Competition, Central Conservatory of Music,Beijing (2014)
  • Finalist of the New Generation Composition Competition, Hong Kong Composers' Guild (2013)
  • Full studentship, The University of Hong Kong (2012-2016)
  • Special Prize, Liu Tianhua Chinese instrumental ensemble Composition Competition,  Shanghai Chinese Orchestra (2010)
  • Lions Joseph Koo Music Foundation Compositional Scholarship, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (2010)
  • Outstanding Graduate Award, Xinghai Conservatory of Music,Guangzhou,China (2009)
  • First Prize for Oustanding Performance Scholarship, Xinghai Conservatory of Music,Guangzhou,China (2005-2009)
  • National Scholarship, Xinghai Conservatory of Music,Guangzhou,China (2007)
  • Selected composer in the Beijing Modern Music Festival, Central Conservatory of Music,Beijing,China (2007)
  • Selected composer in the "Young China -Ten Talented Composers" Chamber Music Festival in Germany (2006)

Professional memberships

  • Chief Secretary, Hong Kong Association for Music Educators (2019-2021)
  • Music Committee Member, Hong Kong Schools Music-Speech Association (2018-2020)
  • Member, Hong Kong Composers' Guild (2010- Present)
  • Member, Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong (2010- Present)
  • Member, Musicians Society of Guangdong (2009- Present)

Academic positions

  • 2025: Visiting Artist, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts
  • 2024-present: Co-Director of International Engagement
  • 2023-2024: Deputy Director of International Engagement
  • 2021-present: Lecturer in Music, Cardiff University School of Music 
  • 2017: Teacher, Music Department, The University of Hong Kong
  • 2016: Guest Lecturer in composition, Xinghai Conservatory of Music, Guangzhou, China
  • 2012-2015: Teacher, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Speaking engagements

  • 4 June 2025, Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, Composition seminar: From Tradition to Inspiration: Recent Composition Sharing.
  • 7 May 2025, University of Southampton, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, Southampton Centre for Music Education and Social Justice, Guest Lecture and workshop: Composing with Cultural Inclusion: Reimaining the Hymn in a Cross-Cultural Soundscape.
  • 25 February 2025, Cardiff University, School of Music, Composer seminar: Composition Dialogues: new works for UPROAR.
  • 9 November 2025, South China University of Technology, Composition seminar and master class
  • 17 May 2024,  Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, Guest Lecture: Exploring the Spirit and Development of Cantonese Instrumental Music: Its Influence on My Composition.
  • 17 June 2022, Royal Welsh College of Music&Drama, Composer seminar

Committees and reviewing

  • 2022-present: Trustee, Tŷ Cerdd Wales Welsh Music
  • 2022-present: Member, Music HE
  • 2023: Committee member, BFE/RMA Research Student's Conference
  • 2012-present: Member, Hong Kong Composer Guild
  • 2013-present: Member, Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong
  • 2019-2021: Chief secretary, Hong Kong Association for Music Educators
  • 2017-2021: Committee member, Hong Kong School Music-Speech Association 

Contact Details

Email ShaoL7@cardiff.ac.uk
Telephone +44 29208 70603
Campuses 33-37 Corbett Road, Floor 2, Room 2.03, Cathays, Cardiff, CF10 3EB

External profiles