Singaporean Kangyi Zhang, based in the United States, is an advocate for new music, especially contemporary classical music. As a soloist and chamber musician, Kangyi loves collaborating with fellow composers performing new works. He maintains active YouTube and SoundCloud channels which not only feature new music but also provide composition resources and tips.
Kangyi has performed on various stages in Singapore, Malaysia and the United States. As a composer, his music are often programmatic and based on personal life and experiences. He also aims to raise public awareness on important historical events.
Kangyi Zhang started learning the Chinese flute at 12 years old, under the dizi maestro Zhan Yong Ming. He later studied Western music in Singapore and the United States (Brown University, Northwestern University, University of California, Los Angeles). He studied the Western flute under Cheryl Lim Xuanzi, John Curran and Evgueni Brokmiller. Kangyi studied composition with Bernard Tan Tiong Gie, Gerald Shapiro, Jay Alan Yim, Bruce Broughton and Ian Krouse. He also studied electronic music/sonic arts with Drew Schnurr.
Kangyi's trombone concerto "Let Freedom Ring!" premiered by Wes Lebo and the NAFA Wind Orchestra (conducted by Joost Flach) was broadcasted on KDLG Alaska public radio “Prevailing Winds” as well as The Missouri Symphony podcast “Summer Nights”. Kangyi's composition "Unit 731: The Museum and the Survivors" is the special mention winner of the 3rd Edition Orient/Occident 2015 Composers Competition and Forum. The chamber orchestra version of this piece was selected by ADDO chamber orchestra for the inaugural 2017 "Have You Experienced" Composition Laboratory and Competition. Kangyi's composition "Syonanto: Remembering Shinozaki Mamoru" is the merit prize winner at the 2016 China-ASEAN Music Festival Composition Competition. His electronic music piece "Crossing the Border" was selected for Traveling Tunes | New Music Masterworks, The New Music Conflagration, Florida. He was commissioned to write two piano set pieces for the 2017 National Piano & Violin Competition (Singapore) - "Postcards from Singapore" and "Cyclic Coexistence". Kangyi was also featured in the A List magazine (Singapore) as one of six promising Singaporean composers. Kangyi is currently media director and composer-flutist at the Chamber Circle, a registered music society which aims to cultivate a vibrant chamber music scene in Singapore.
Kangyi is also a biomedical engineer with research interests in nanotechnology, biomaterials, tissue engineering and cancer. He graduated magna cum laude with honors from Brown University in 2009. He received his MS from Northwestern University in 2012 and his PhD from University of California, Los Angeles in 2015. He is a member of the following honorary societies: Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa and American Chemistry Society. He is a recipient of A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) scholarships and he attained A*STAR Chairman's Honors Lists for all years in college. He served as manager of the Consumer Care Technologies program at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering. He was also a community board member of Nanoscale Horizons journal (Royal Society of Chemistry).
Kangyi's other passions include skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, and playing soccer. He can be occasionally seen doing stand-up comedy in front of his friends.
Visit his comedy and lifestyle YouTube channel.
Kangyi has performed on various stages in Singapore, Malaysia and the United States. As a composer, his music are often programmatic and based on personal life and experiences. He also aims to raise public awareness on important historical events.
Kangyi Zhang started learning the Chinese flute at 12 years old, under the dizi maestro Zhan Yong Ming. He later studied Western music in Singapore and the United States (Brown University, Northwestern University, University of California, Los Angeles). He studied the Western flute under Cheryl Lim Xuanzi, John Curran and Evgueni Brokmiller. Kangyi studied composition with Bernard Tan Tiong Gie, Gerald Shapiro, Jay Alan Yim, Bruce Broughton and Ian Krouse. He also studied electronic music/sonic arts with Drew Schnurr.
Kangyi's trombone concerto "Let Freedom Ring!" premiered by Wes Lebo and the NAFA Wind Orchestra (conducted by Joost Flach) was broadcasted on KDLG Alaska public radio “Prevailing Winds” as well as The Missouri Symphony podcast “Summer Nights”. Kangyi's composition "Unit 731: The Museum and the Survivors" is the special mention winner of the 3rd Edition Orient/Occident 2015 Composers Competition and Forum. The chamber orchestra version of this piece was selected by ADDO chamber orchestra for the inaugural 2017 "Have You Experienced" Composition Laboratory and Competition. Kangyi's composition "Syonanto: Remembering Shinozaki Mamoru" is the merit prize winner at the 2016 China-ASEAN Music Festival Composition Competition. His electronic music piece "Crossing the Border" was selected for Traveling Tunes | New Music Masterworks, The New Music Conflagration, Florida. He was commissioned to write two piano set pieces for the 2017 National Piano & Violin Competition (Singapore) - "Postcards from Singapore" and "Cyclic Coexistence". Kangyi was also featured in the A List magazine (Singapore) as one of six promising Singaporean composers. Kangyi is currently media director and composer-flutist at the Chamber Circle, a registered music society which aims to cultivate a vibrant chamber music scene in Singapore.
Kangyi is also a biomedical engineer with research interests in nanotechnology, biomaterials, tissue engineering and cancer. He graduated magna cum laude with honors from Brown University in 2009. He received his MS from Northwestern University in 2012 and his PhD from University of California, Los Angeles in 2015. He is a member of the following honorary societies: Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa and American Chemistry Society. He is a recipient of A*STAR (Agency for Science, Technology and Research) scholarships and he attained A*STAR Chairman's Honors Lists for all years in college. He served as manager of the Consumer Care Technologies program at the Institute of Materials Research and Engineering. He was also a community board member of Nanoscale Horizons journal (Royal Society of Chemistry).
Kangyi's other passions include skateboarding, snowboarding, wakeboarding, and playing soccer. He can be occasionally seen doing stand-up comedy in front of his friends.
Visit his comedy and lifestyle YouTube channel.
