Joy Yang

Joy Yang ___ 杨洋 is a dynamic pianist and thereminist anchored in classical music, now focusing on jazz, free improvisation, and interdisciplinary performance. She is a performer-composer and educator. Dr. Yang leads her own jazz trio, and collaborates with international visual artists, video projection mappers, sound designers, dancers, choreographers, scientists, engineers and poets. Joy improvises telematically with the Ethernet Orchestra and Female Laptop Orchestra. Born in South Africa to Chinese parents, Joy spent most of her life in Sydney, Australia before moving to the USA to pursue her graduate studies. She is a native bilingual speaker in English and Mandarin, and fluent in Wenzhounese. Joy has a Doctor of Musical Arts in Jazz Performance (Piano Performance and Literature cognate) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her doctoral interdisciplinary performance research educates the wider community, creating unique performance experiences. Her first CD release was with Kuroshio in 2020, under Asian Improv Records.

A third culture kid existing in liminal spaces, Joy continually broadens her musical voice and has released and performed in various styles as a pianist, thereminist, singer, rapper, song-writer and/or producer. These include: The Interdisciples (Interdisciplinary Improv), JIN!WA (Pop), Briar Schlenker Trio (Free Improv/Noise), Valkyrie Trio (Women in Jazz), Almost A (Jazz/Gypsy/New music), UIUC Hip-Hop Collective (Hip-Hop), Boxout (Pop), Lifetime Member (EDM), Media Light Array (Grindcore/Noise), JA$$ (EDM Improv), Avant-Gardians (Free Jazz), and ViolaMPFREE (Interdisciplinary Improv). Yang has received numerous performance-composition commissions, conference presentations and awards, including collaborations with: Jason Finkelman, Amy Hassinger, Dr. Cynthia M. Oliver, Jennifer Monson, Rudolf Haken, David Rosenboom, Maurice Brown and others. Dr. Yang recently founded the Interdisciplinary Institute, which seeks to educate, promote and conduct STEAM+ research. Joy invites the global community to participate on her journey of being and discovering her true self, inspiring them to do the same.