June 2027
University of North Carolina, Greensboro, NC
Ancient Memory is one of the selected works for the Bass Trombone, Category 1 division of the Susan Slaughter Solo Competition, presented by the International Women’s Brass Conference in June 2027 in Greensboro, NC, USA.
September 23–25, 2026
San Diego State University, San Diego, CA
An evening of new piano music showcasing trailblazing pianist-composers Nahre Sol, Phyllis Chen, and Ying-Chen Kao. Joined by Alex Peh and Tina Chong, the concert culminates in a 4-piano finale featuring the world premiere of What the Hummingbird Knew by Nahre Sol.
Recording
A ballade for solo piano · Ying-Chen Kao, piano
Ying-Chen Kao (高盈真) is a Taiwanese-American composer, pianist, educator, and graphic and web designer whose music has been lauded as “exceedingly beautiful” by Soundboard UK, a “challenging and rich work” by the Coral Gables Gazette, and “an evocative and surreal soundscape” by Minor 7th: Acoustic Guitar Music Reviews.
Her music has been featured at events and broadcasts including MUSIQA, the North American Taiwanese Professors’ Association, Taiwan Culture Center D.C., the Sylvia Adalman Chamber Series, the Union Square Chamber Music Society, The Hedgelawn Classical Series, the Mildred McDaniel Concert Series, the 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 including cellist Michael Kannen, pianist Jenny Lin, saxophonist Gary Thomas, organist Donald Sutherland, Duo Sorolla, and the 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.
In the 2026–2027 season, Ying-Chen will join a mini-residency at San Diego State University, where her new work Where Paths Converge (2026) for piano and electronics—commissioned by pianist Tina Chong—will premiere on September 25, 2026.
Her saxophone quartet Frustration Factory and Ancient Memory for solo trombone are published by Warwick Music/Hal Leonard Europe. Falling Still, a work for cello and piano inspired by the essays of Katherine Min, was premiered by cellist Michael Kannen and pianist Qing Jiang, with narration by the author. Two solo trombone works, Ancient Memory and Transmutation, were commissioned by the 2008 Summer Trombone Workshop in Taiwan, where they served as obligatory repertoire for the competition. Her Prix d’Été–winning composition Lilac . Star . Bird for solo guitar was released as the title track on guitarist Tracy Anne Smith’s debut album. Britain’s Classical Guitar Magazine praised it as “one of almost beautiful-sounding dissonance… no doubt a major work that demands attention.” Collidescope, a multimedia ballet created in collaboration with the Peabody Preparatory Dance Department, was premiered during the Peabody Institute’s 150th anniversary celebration under the direction of renowned theater artist and choreographer Martha Clarke.
Ying-Chen brings more than three decades of distinguished piano performance, encompassing solo recitals, world premieres, studio recordings, and collaborative concerts throughout the United States and Asia. She has appeared as both soloist and chamber pianist at festivals and venues including the Asian American and Pacific Islander Festival, the Gala Opening Night of the Festival of Miami, the Peabody Computer Music Consort, the Arts for Hearts’ Sake concert series, the Taiwan Culture Center of Greater Washington, D.C., and the Steinway Piano Gallery Miami.
A dedicated educator, Ying-Chen teaches piano, theory, and composition at the International School of Music and Patterson Park Academy of Music/South Baltimore Music Academy, and teaches composition at MTSY International Music Education. She prepares piano students for ABRSM examinations; her piano students have performed in honors recitals at Carnegie Hall. Her composition students have gained admission to leading conservatories and universities, including the Royal Northern College of Music, the Royal Academy of Arts, The New School, the Manhattan School of Music, the Peabody Institute, and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has also taught music at a K–8 International Baccalaureate language immersion school within Baltimore City Public Schools.
In addition to her musical career, Ying-Chen is co-founder of ycArt design studio LLC, through which she collaborates with individual artists, cultural organizations, management companies, publicists, and record labels—providing strategic consultation on community building and digital presence. Her design work Constellation of Voice was featured on the cover of Carnegie Hall’s playbill in October 2008. She specializes in creating visually compelling and user-friendly websites, promotional materials, and album packaging tailored for musicians and artists.
Ying-Chen holds degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. She resides in Baltimore with her husband, composer/pianist David Witmer.
For more about her work, follow her on YouTube, SoundCloud, Facebook, and Instagram.
April 2026
Falling Still for cello and piano (excerpt)
A collection of twentieth and twenty-first century masterpieces for solo guitar. Tracy Anne Smith, guitar.
Bandcamp
Works marked Details have their own page with recordings, program notes and score previews; Buy Score means the score is available for purchase.
World premiere at San Diego State University, September 2026.
Commissioned by Dr. Tina Chong with support from San Diego State University.
Text by Rainer Maria Rilke; English translations by Stephen Mitchell.
Inspired by the essay of Katherine Min, “On being Humpty Dumpty.” Commissioned by Michael Kannen.
for violin
Written for Martha Muehleisen.
for alto saxophone and harp
Commissioned by Pictures on Silence.
Theme on Yi Lan folk tune, “Diu Diu Dang A.” Commissioned by Jenny Lin.
for baritone, clarinet, cello and piano
Poem by Dr. Hollis Robbins. Commissioned by Dr. Andrew Talle.
Commissioned by AM/PM saxophone quartet.
for clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello and piano
Written for REDSHIFT: Jeff Anderle (clarinet/bass clarinet), Andie Tanning (violin), Rose Bellini (cello), Isabelle O’Connell (piano).
for mezzo-soprano, violin, viola, cello and vibraphone
Poem by John Bricuth. Commissioned by Dr. Andrew Talle.
Commissioned by Summer Trombone Workshop 2008, Taipei, Taiwan. Published by Warwick Music.
for solo tenor trombone
Commissioned by Summer Trombone Workshop 2008, Taipei, Taiwan.
Commissioned by Bonnie Lander. Text by H.A. Kares; Jenny Beck, Max/MSP.
Commissioned by Tracy Anne Smith.
for saxophone and organ
Commissioned by jazz saxophonist Gary Thomas and organist Donald Sutherland.
for dancers and video
Commissioned by the Peabody Preparatory Dance Department as part of “New Work 2007,” a collaborative showcase for the 150-year celebration of the Peabody Institute, overseen by renowned American theatre artist and choreographer Martha Clarke.
for orchestra
for piano and string quartet
Commissioned by Michael Kannen, Director of Chamber Music at the Peabody Conservatory and founding member of the Brentano String Quartet.
trio for baritone, violin and guitar
Text by H.A. Kares.
Written for Noah Weber, Jesse Irons and Gwendolyn Fisher.
for percussion trio
for two sopranos and string quartet
Text by Ching-Ming Cheng (in Chinese).
for flute and piano
for viola and piano
exceedingly beautiful
The title of the CD comes from the three-movement work of Ying-Chen Kao. The style of the music is one of almost beautiful-sounding dissonance. Its high-roving melodies reminded me of the Hans Werner Henze Three Fragments in style… This is no doubt a major work that demands attention.
Benterghansa as pianist in the work by Ying-Chen Kao called “Toccata” for Viola and Piano. Shao-Chien was violist. Both Chien and Banterghansa’s playing was passionate, expressive, and dynamically balanced throughout their performance. The first part of the toccata crackled with emotional fire… This was an accomplished performance of a challenging and rich work.
…At the core of this recording is the work to which the CD owes its name, “Lilac.Star.Bird”, which was composed for Smith by composer Ying-Chen Kao in 2007. It is an evocative and surreal soundscape, drawing influence from a poem by famed American writer and poet, Walt Whitman. Each movement is meant to evoke a lilac, star, or bird, and they go beyond mere imitations of their titles, rather serving as prolonged meditations on each topic…
The sophistication, originality, and worth of this composition are immediately noted by this performance. The ambitions of this composition have found a voice in the hands of Tracy Smith as she brings to life the range of intended images and sounds. New repertoire is inspiring and refreshing, especially when it as effective as this composition.
Ying-Chen Kao uses extended notation and technique spans glissandi, slide vibrato, grace notes, pitch bending, and use of a decrescendo with a small circle to portray her equivalence of a niente, conveying a nuanced understanding of the trombone’s sound palette while exploring some non-standard notation… this bass trombone version would make for an excellent intermediate-level contemporary solo piece for advanced high school or early-level university tenor and bass trombone students alike…
台灣之夜音樂會 作曲家新秀輩出上半場獨挑大樑的是紐約知名鋼琴家林佳靜。…林佳靜以台、英雙語介紹李元貞、周子鈴、高盈真、顏名秀四位作曲新秀。林佳靜指出，台灣作曲人才輩出，年紀輕輕表現卻令樂壇刮目相看，這次介紹的四位女作曲家都在25歲以下，作品各有特色。高盈真是琵琶第音樂學院博士候選人，為此次音樂會改編宜蘭民謠「丟丟銅仔」為鋼琴獨奏曲，並委託林佳靜為該曲作處女演出，高盈真也在演出後，和林佳靜一起謝幕。
Feature · Meeting of the MusesThe collaborative project “New Works” brings together composers, singers, actors, dancers and visual artists from Peabody Conservatory, Preparatory, and the Baltimore community, mentored by distinguished guest artist Martha Clarke.
Feature · Finding Their VoiceComposition “Solitary” commissioned by Andrew Talle, who chairs Peabody’s Musicology Department and teaches at both Peabody and the Hopkins Homewood campus, commissioned the pieces for his undergraduate course focusing on historic premières.
長號手蔡懷恩和鋼琴手高盈真的二重奏…贏來掌聲連連，大家都為台灣有這樣傑出的音樂人才感到自豪
Selected compositions published by ycArt Publishing and distributed by Subito Music Corporation.
For general inquiries, commissions, scores/audio samples, and performances, please send a message below.
