Born in 1954 in Shanghai. He spent his early years on Chongming island during the Cultural Revolution. In 1974 he was  admitted to the Shanghai Conservatoire, initially to study violin.  In his third year he changed his specialisation to composition. By the late 1970s and early 1980s he was already known in China  as the first composer to use contemporary and avant-garde techniques, which were banned by the official system at the time. He  was criticised for an individualism that stood in direct contradiction to the dominant ideology.

His personal compositional style took shape in the years after  his return to Shanghai. In 1983 he wrote his first representative  work, Yi Feng (The Lost Style), commissioned by Frank Huang,  then a cello student. Although Yi Feng is written for solo cello, it  has an almost chamber-like character. The instrument’s strings  are retuned a tritone below their normal pitch, and the body  of the cello is treated as four separate parts. The composer requires  the soloist to play on these four parts of the instrument in order to  obtain percussive timbres. Huang gave the first performance that  same year. The work’s avant-garde aesthetic sparked wide discussion throughout the country.

Also in 1983, on the recommendation of Chou Wen-chung, Ge  Gan-ru began doctoral studies in composition at Columbia University. His works have since been performed notably the New  York Philharmonic, BBC Orchestra, Royal Scottish National  Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lyon, Tokyo Philharmonic,  American Composers Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic,  Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Kronos Quartet, Shanghai  Quartet, Miami Quartet, and many other ensembles.

Selected works: Twelve Preludes for piano (1979, rev. 2019), Yi  Feng (Lost Style) for cello and orchestra (1982), String Quartet no.  1 (1983), Fu, Lost Style for cello (1983), Gu Yue (Ancient Music)  for prepared piano (1986), Wu (Resolute/Rising to Height) for  piano and orchestra (1986, rev. 1991), Duration Instant for pianist  (1990), Four Studies of Peking Opera for piano and string quartet  (1990s), Chinese Rhapsody for orchestra (1992), Symphony no. 1  (1997), String Quartet no. 4 Angel Suite (1998), Six Pentatonic  Tunes for orchestra (2003), Fairy Lady Meng Jiang for orchestra  (2008), String Quartet no. 2 (ca. 1990–92), String Quartet no. 3  (1994–96), String Quartet no. 5 The Fall of Baghdad (ca. 2000–2),  Butterfly Overture for orchestra (ca. 2005–7), Wrong, Wrong,  Wrong! for toy piano and other instruments (2007), Hard!  Hard! Hard!for toy piano and other instruments (2008), Lovers Besieged, orchestral suite (2009), Shanghai Reminiscences for  orchestra (2013), Twelve Etudes for Extended Piano (2017).