Chow Jun Yi

Composer-in-residence

Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jun Yi began studying piano and music theory at the age of 5. He then joined the Chinese Orchestra, and played cello in middle school. He composed his very first cello concerto based on the Taiwanese folk song Gao Shan Qing (Green Mountain) and performed it himself with his high school Chinese Orchestra at 17. It was at that time he decided that he wanted to pursue a career in music and had a few choices laid out before him - Piano, Cello, Conducting, or Composition. After deliberation, he chose to pursue his musical career in composition due to having a mindset that “starting from zero” was a challenge worth undertaking and an adventure he yearned to have.

Jun Yi obtained his Bachelor of Arts for Music Composition at Central Conservatory of Music in China in 2011 under the mentorship and tutelage of Tang Jian-ping, Chen Yong-gang and Win Wen-Chen. He proceeded to complete his Master of Music of the same Major at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music in the USA in 2013 under the guidance of PQ Phan. He sees himself as a global citizen and continuously draws his inspiration from all sorts of cultures and ideas that reflect who we are as one global people. Transforming and integrating these concepts and revelations into his music, Jun Yi wishes to inspire those in the future - just like how they have inspired and reminded him of who he is and what the world is like at the present. 

He has received multiple awards, such as the Grand Prize of Best Original Orchestra Work from the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra International Composition Competition. On top of that, he has received commissions from the likes of the Albany Symphony, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Singapore National Youth Chinese Orchestra, Georgetown Festival in Malaysia, Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra and Sound of Arts Festival in New York. His music has been performed wildly across the globe, covering Asia, Europe and the Americas. He is also the co-author of The TENG Guide to the Chinese Orchestra published in 2019 which now serves as a one-stop guide for composers, scholars and enthusiasts alike.

Although Jun Yi is currently pursuing his PhD in Music Composition at University of Hawaii at Manoa in Honolulu, Hawaii in US, he works on various projects remotely - including serving as the Composer-in-Residence of The TENG Company. He also performs on occasion as a classical musician and a music improviser.