composer

Yiran Zhao is a composer and performer, living in Berlin. She is music director and composer of OBLIVIA, an experimental music theatre 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, Klangforum Wien, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Ensemble Garage, Remix Ensemble, Ensemble Asamisimasa, Ensemble Proton, Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Pony Says, KlangLab Ensemble, Ensemble Lemniscate, Ensemble Ö, Theater Bremen, Oper Wuppertal, Espoo City Theatre, Teater Viirus Helsinki, Tampere Workers' Theatre, Schwankhalle Bremen, Theater Rampe Stuttgart, Casa da Música Porto, Eclat, SPOR, Ultima, Münchener Biennale, ZeitRäume Basel, Wien Modern, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, Musiktheatertage Wien, Ultraschall Berlin, Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik, Heroes of sound festival, Musica nova Helsinki and many others.
She is recipient of Artist-in-Residence Munich 2024, the Musikfonds fellowship 2023, winner of NOperas 2021, the INITIAL Grant from Akademie der Künste AdK Berlin 2021, Berlin-Basel fellowship of HGK Basel & AdK Berlin in Atelier Mondial 2019, City Composer in Unna Prize Winner, 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.

photography: Lukas Jakob Löcker

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