Ying-Chen Kao (高盈真) is a Taiwanese-American composer, pianist, educator, graphic and web designer.
Her music has been lauded as “exceedingly beautiful” in Soundboard UK, a “challenging and rich work” in the Coral Gables Gazette, and “an evocative and surreal soundscape” on minor 7th.com. She creates music that explores identity, memory, emotion, and visual imagery.

Ying-Chen’s music has been featured at various events and broadcasts, such as MUSIQA, The North American Taiwanese Professors’ Association, Taiwan Culture Center D.C., Sylvia Adalman Chamber Series, Union Square Chamber Music Society, The Hedgelawn Classical Series, Mildred McDaniel Concert Series, Old Town Hall Performance Series, the 24th Anniversary Season of the Musical Arts International, Inc., The Hermitage Museum & Gardens Instrumental Recital Series, WBJC, and NPR. Her compositions have been performed and commissioned by musicians and ensembles, such as cellist Michael Kannen, pianist Jenny Lin, saxophonist Gary Thomas, organist Donald Sutherland, Duo Sorolla, and Peabody Children’s Chorus, and have been showcased in venues, such as Capital One Hall, The Stone, The Mainstay, Ningbo Grand Theater, Hangzhou Grand Theatre, Alishan Township Tsou Nature and Cultural Center, and Kaohsiung Music Center.

Her saxophone quartet “Frustration Factory” and “Ancient Memory” for solo trombone were published by Warwick Music/Hal Leonard Europe. Her composition, “Falling Still,” a piece for cello and piano inspired by the essays of late Korean-American writer Katherine Min, was premiered by cellist Michael Kannen, pianist Qing Jiang, and narrated by the author. Two solo trombone works, “Ancient Memory “and “Transmutation” were commissioned by the 2008 Summer Trombone Workshop in Taiwan, where they were the obligatory repertoire for the competition. Her Prix D’Ete-winning work, “Lilac . Star . Bird,” for solo guitar, was released as the title track on guitarist Tracy Anne Smith’s solo debut album. Britain's Classical Guitar Magazine praised the work as “…one of almost beautiful-sounding dissonance... This is no doubt a major work that demands attention." “Collidescope,” a multimedia ballet work created in collaboration with the Peabody Preparatory Dance Department was premiered during the 150-year celebration of the Peabody Institute, overseen by renowned American theatre artist and choreographer Martha Clarke.

Ying-Chen has thirty-two years of piano performance experience and has appeared in solo recitals, world premieres, studio recordings, and collaborative concerts throughout the United States and Asia. She has been featured as soloist and chamber pianist in the Asian American and Pacific Islander Festival, Gala Opening Night of Festival of Miami, Peabody Computer Music Consort, Arts for Hearts' Sake concert series, Taiwan Culture Center of Greater Washington D.C, and Steinway Piano Gallery Miami.

Ying-Chen is a dedicated educator, currently serving as a piano/theory faculty at the International School of Music and Patterson Park Academy of Music. She also teaches composition at MTSY International Music Education. She offers intensive one-on-one virtual composition and theory lessons for students applying to universities in the United States and Europe. Her students have been accepted into prestigious institutions such as the Royal Northern College of Music, the Royal Academy of Arts, The New School, Manhattan School of Music, Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Additionally, Ying-Chen has served as a music teacher for Baltimore City Public School K-8 students at Baltimore International Academy West, a language immersion and International Baccalaureate (IB) program school.

Ying-Chen holds an M.M. and has pursued Postgraduate Studies in composition at Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. She earned her B.M. in theory and composition from the University of Miami. She studied composition with Wen-Tze Lu, Christopher Theofanidis, and Michael Hersch. Her piano mentors include J.B. Floyd and Ernest Ragogini.

Besides music, Ying-Chen is also a co-founder of ycArt design studio LLC and an active graphic and web designer. She has worked closely with individual artists, organizations, leading management companies, publicists, record labels, and has consulted many organizations on how to build their community and online presence. Her design work, “Constellation of Voice,” was featured on the cover of the Carnegie Hall’s playbill in October 2008. She specializes in creating visually appealing and user-friendly websites, logos, flyers, posters, album packaging, and other promotional materials for musicians and artists.

Ying-Chen resides in Baltimore with her husband, composer/pianist, David Witmer.
To learn more about Ying-Chen Kao and her music, please visit her website at yingchenkao.com. You can also follow her on YouTube, Soundcloud, Facebook, and Instagram.

[August 2024]

Lilac.Star.Bird - Tracy Anne Smith
A collection of twentieth and twenty-first century masterpieces for solo guitar.
Tracy Anne Smith, guitar

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