YIFENG YVONNE YUAN'S PLAYGROUND
Yifeng Yvonne Yuan converts the frequency of herself losing socks into the frequency of the pitches; she weighs raindrops to decide the weight of her noteheads. She is a composer, performer, and media artist, born and raised in China, and currently lives between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. Currently, she is a Ph.D. student in music composition and a master’s student in media art & Technology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Yvonne studied sociology in college before she committed to being a composer. However, her music career began much earlier without her realizing it. She has played the piano since the age of six, and that soon turned her into a keyboardist/singer in a rock band, where she began her passion for writing music. In college, Yvonne became heavily involved in film scoring and theater music. Her music has been performed at the UCLA Freud Playhouse and the Hollywood Fringe Festival.
Yvonne has studied with Joao Oliveira and JoAnn Kuchera-Morin at UCSB. She has studied with Richard Danielpour, Kay Rhie, and Ian Krouse at UCLA. Yvonne draws inspiration from the sound of nature and the ritualistic practice of humans before language was invented. She constantly takes inspiration from non-musical sounds, including the sound of rustling leaves, the beeping of Morse code, and the beating of the heart. She composes for orchestra, and chamber ensembles, and is an avid electronic/computer music enthusiast. Her music has been featured at HighScore Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, EAMA Institute, and many more. She was a recipient of the Corwin Award at UCSB and a finalist of the Morton Gould Young Composer's Award.
As a performer/live sound artist, Yvonne played at the Other Art Fair Los Angeles in April 2023. Her multimedia work "Memory..memory..." will be performed at the Santa Barbara Center of Art, Science, and Technology in June 2023. Currently, Yvonne is working on a multimedia electroacoustic live piece. Her new work for the Riot Ensemble will be premiered in Viitasaari, Finland in July 2023.
In her free time, Yvonne writes poetry and skateboards in her basement.