Yanchen Ye is one of the raising young composers. His works, which include orchestral, chamber, and vocal pieces, have been performed across three continents–North America, Europe, and Asia. Wales Arts Review described his music as “moving from hushed harmonics to biting, Bartókian cross-rhythms, and with a gamut of playful expressive devices in between.” Strongly influenced by Asian music, geography, and culture, Ye’s music explores the simplest beauty of lyrical tunes, tone colors, human bonding, and Mother Earth with sincerity and tonal sophistication. As praised by The National Ballet of China, “the variety of symphonic color transformations, the richness of the layers, and the power of the [musical] tension in his [Ye’s] modern work is beyond expectation. The music moves with [the audience’s] hearts and has a sense of continuous blooming…” Ye’s music has been widely commissioned and performed by many of the world’s most prestigious ensembles and orchestras, including MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony, the National Ballet of China Orchestra, Vale of Glamorgan Festival, Cabrillo Festival, and TonLagen Festival. Most recently, he received two American Prize awards for his Xizi for symphonic orchestra and Two Pieces for seven strings.

  Ye graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod State Conservatory with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in composition, New England Conservatory with a Master of Music in Composition, and the University of Michigan with a Doctor of Music Arts in Composition. He is currently teaching at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.