Yiran Zhao, MusicianConductor, composer, pianist and vocalist Yiran Zhao (b.1999) received her bachelor’s degree in Piano and Theory & Composition from Westminster Choir College. She is pursuing her master’s degree in Choral Conducting at the Yale School of Music. Yiran was the choir director and organist at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Kendall Park, NJ from 2019 to 2021. She was also the director of the Xiao Feng Arts Choir. She is the assistant conductor of the SameStream choir, directed by Dr. James Jordan and composed of alumni of the Choir College. She was also faculty of High School Piano Camp at Westminster in 2019.
Born and raised in Beijing, China, Yiran joined the award-winning Beijing Philharmonic Choir at the age of 8. She was soprano section leader of Westminster Williamson Voices. She also accompanied and sang in Westminster Kantorei, Westminster Choir, and Westminster Symphonic Choir. Yiran was the soprano performer in Dr. Dennis Shrock’s Virtual Renaissance Symposium in Summer 2021.In summer 2019, Yiran attended the Choral Institute at Oxford as a full-conductor, where she studied with Dr. James Jordan and Dr. James Whitbourn. In summer 2020, she was the youngest conductor ever accepted to the Norfolk Chamber Choir & Choral Conducting Workshop at Yale (cancelled due to COVID-19). She attended Brevard Music Center as a classical pianist in summer 2018, where she studied with Prof. Michael Chertock. Yiran has written multiple works in different genres, from solo voices and instruments to large works for choirs and orchestras. In April 2019, her Symphony No.1, “A Dragon from the East” was performed by Westminster Community Orchestra. Her orchestral compositions were used as background and processional music at Westminster Convocation and Commencement in Spring 2021. |