Born on 23 September 1955, Xiaogang Ye is regarded as one of the leading contemporary Chinese composers. From 1978 till 1983 he studied at the Central Conservatory of Music of China. After graduation, he was appointed resident composer and lecturer at the Central Conservatory of Music of China. From 1987 he studied at the Eastman School of Music of the University of Rochester. Amongst his teachers were Minxin Du, Samuel Adler, Joseph Schwantner, Louis Andriessen and Alexander Goehr. Since 1993, Xiaogang Ye divides his time between Beijing and Exton/Pennsylvania.

Xiaogang Ye’s oeuvre covers symphonic works, chamber music for various instruments, stage works as well as film music.

He received numerous prizes and awards, among others the Alexander-Tcherepnin-prize 1982, the price of the Japan Dance Star Ballet (1986), the Urban Council of Hongkong (1987-94), the Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (1992), the China Cultural Promotion Society (1993), the Li Foundation, San Francisco (1994) and the Chinese National Symphony Orchestra (1996). He was a fellow of the Metropolitan Life Foundation an the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts (1996).

In August 2008 Ye's piano concerto Starry Sky was premiered during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing by Lang Lang. Accompanied by dance and light shows it was live broadcast and watched by about 3 billion people worldwide.

Information in Chinese: www.schott-music.cn