English
Yiran Zhao is a composer and performer, living in Berlin.
She is music director and composer of OBLIVIA, an experimental music theater company based in Helsinki.
Her works focus on various modes of expression incorporating both musical and performative elements, lighting, visual arts, and other media. With great interest in the physicality of performance, since she came to Europe she has been working extensively with the human body and other objects as compositional material.
Zhao studied composition with Guoping Jia, Caspar Johannes Walter, Erik Oña, Carola Bauckholt, and taught at the Anton Bruckner Private University Linz.
She has worked with numerous artistic groups and festivals in Europe, Asia, North and South America; including Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Recherche, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Ensemble Garage, Ensemble Asamisimasa, Ensemble Phace, ensemble this ensemble that, Pony Says, KlangLab, Dissolution Ensemble, Ensemble Lemniscate, Theater Bremen, Oper Wuppertal, Eclat, SPOR, Ultima, ZEIT RÄUME Basel, WIEN MODERN, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Münchener Biennale, Musiktheatertage Wien, and many others.
She is recipient of Artist-in-Residence Munich 2024, the Musikfonds fellowship 2023, winner of NOperas 2022, the INITIAL Grant from AdK Berlin 2021, Berlin-Basel fellowship of HGK Basel & AdK Berlin in Atelier Mondial 2019, Berlin fellowship of AdK Berlin 2017, composer-in-residence and concert curator for the “Forum of Younger Composers 2016” at the Bavarian Academy of Arts, winner of Karlsruhe Composition Competition 2015, stipend of the Hochschule für Musik Basel 2014, the Deutschlandstipendium 2013/14, the State Stipend China 2010, Con Tempo Young Chamber Music Competition China 2009.
Zhao’s portrait CD from WERGO – EDITION ZEITGENÖSSISCHE MUSIK was released in 2022.
Vimeo Edition Zeitgenössische Musik