Ye Xiaogang

Who is Ye Xiaogang?

Ye Xiaogang is a Chinese composer of contemporary classical music. He is originally Cantonese but spent his early years in Shanghai. He studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing from 1978 to 1983 and at the Eastman School of Music beginning in 1987. His teachers include Alexander Goehr.

He teaches at the Central Conservatory of Music, where he serves as Assistant President and vice dean of the composition department.

His father is the composer Ye Chunzhi.

His Starry Sky was premiered at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the summer of 2006, Ye took part in the inaugural "Composer Alive!" transpacific correspondence project with Accessible Contemporary Music in Chicago, Illinois. This project consisted of Ye composing a piece, Datura, and sending its fragments as they were completed to Chicago, electronically. They were subsequently read by ACM's performance ensemble and posted to the Internet for Ye's approval. The project culminated with Ye traveling to the United States for the completed work's premiere performance.