Meet Juilliard's Toy-Maker (ft. Ziyi Tao)

Ziyi Tao is fascinated by languages and the process of making sense of things, he strives to write more than just music. Currently under the mentorship of Andrew Norman, Ziyi has also been inspired by and worked with many other composers, including Beat Furrer, Marco Momi, Francesco Filidei , Mark Andre, Jon Deak, Molly Herron, Max Grafe, Robert Beaser, and Reiko Füting. Ziyi is interested in exploring the ethical and political potentials of music, hoping to branch out in exploration of hybrid expressions of different ideas through diverse mediums. Ziyi is fortunate to have worked with, and have had his works performed by numerous prominent artists and ensembles, including pianist and composer Conrad Tao, pianist Peter Dugan, the Arxis Ensemble, the mdi Ensemble, the Kenari Quartet, the Isosceles Trio, the Julius Quartet, the Hypercube Ensemble, the Juilliard Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Pacific Chamber Orchestra, and the St. Petersburg Philharmonic. Ziyi’s works has also been conducted by outstanding conductors, including Thomas Wilkins, Jeffrey Milarsky, Beat Furrer, and Fedor Lednev. Ziyi has received numerous scholarships and awards, including the Gena Raps String Quartet Prize 2022, first prize of the XVI Open Composers Competition Named After Andrey Petrov, “ Share of Hope”, the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artists Award 2021, being named Winner of the NAfME Student Composers Competition 2021, and the 44th DownBeat Student Music Award. Ziyi’s website: https://www.ziyi-tao.com/ “Trio,” for viola, bass clarinet, and piano: https://youtu.be/Dmzt1c7w4ZU “The Toy-Maker,” for harp and percussion: https://youtu.be/YOr9ScuKn6I “ALL,” for orchestra: https://youtu.be/jzceWsojPx0 00:40 Composition at Juilliard vs. Columbia 09:50 Composition class at Ziyi’s high school 12:03 What there an assignment in your high school class that changed the way you write? 17:35 “Trio,” for viola, bass clarinet, and piano 19:05 How Ziyi wrote the “Trio” in 3 days 31:13 Where does the dread come from while composing? 35:09 How do you start your piece? 39:15 What does concept mean to you? 44:43 Timing for short pieces 46:25 “ALL,” for orchestra 48:50 “tonal” quotation in “ALL” 58:39 “The Toy-Maker,” for harp and percussion 01:01:03 Pissing people off with another composer on “The Toy-Maker” 01:07:25 The problem with sharing your music as a composer 01:12:00 What is a composition lesson? 👨🏻‍🏫 BOOK a 1-on-1 meeting with me directly via this link if you're interested in having a lesson or consultation: https://calendly.com/saadhaddad 📰 Monthly NEWSLETTER that shares the latest news about my music and shows: https://saadnhaddad.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d52b653fc543f4ca604265d53&id=70d2af18c6