Born in Shanghai and later becoming a naturalized French, Qigang Chen grew up in an artistic environment and began his music studies in China. In 1984, after completing his composition studies with Luo Zhonghong, Chen obtained a bursary from the French government and studied with Olivier Messiaen. He also worked with Ivo Malec, Betsy Jolas and Claude Ballif he was music director for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games of Peking in 2008.
Chen's style brings together Chinese and European cultures, allying Chinese ideas with European musical concepts (Yuan, 1988), traditional Chinese instruments and Western instruments (Iris dévoilée, 2001, premiered by the Orchestre National de France; Un temps disparu, 2002, premiered by Xianghua Ma and the Philharmonic Orchestra of China). Among his symphonic works, Reflet d’un temps disparu, for cello and orchestra, was first performed by Yo-Yo Ma and the Orchestre National de France.
His concerto for piano Er Huang (2009) was first performed at the Carnegie Hall, New York, by Lang Lang and the Juilliard Orchestra. Luan Tan for orchestra was first performed in Hong Kong in 2015, Itinéraire d’une illusion for symphony orchestra (2017) and La joie de la souffrance for violin and orchestra (2017), premiered by Maxim Vengerov and the China Philharmonic in Peking.