Yang Zhang(XLII)
- Composer
- Producer
- Director
Yang Zhang - Composer, Technologist, and Innovator; Yang Zhang is recognized as the first composer who reinterprets the principles underlying quantum technology, developed through her collaboration with an interdisciplinary team, into a newly defined artistic language. This innovative approach introduces a first-of-its-kind framework for music composition, visual storytelling, and artistic expression across virtual reality and live performance formats, offering a new perspective on quantum technology as an extension and elevation of musical creativity. Her groundbreaking vision is realized through her Quantum Symphony series. Yang is a two-time Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA) recipient and a three-time Telly Award-winning composer, technologist, and innovator working at the intersection of music, emerging technology, and social impact.
Music Creation
Renowned for her distinctive artistry and pioneering integration of emerging technologies with compositional language, Yang has earned international recognition for her cross-disciplinary Quantum Symphony series. The project premiered at Château de La Napoule during her artist residency, where she was selected as the only composer among 10 global artists chosen for the La Napoule Art Foundation’s 2026 Spring Global Artists Residency Program. The premiere introduced a groundbreaking cross-media presentation combining visual storytelling, immersive sound experiences, and a reinterpretation of quantum concepts through artistic expression.
To date, this project has earned Yang her third Telly Award recognition in the Best Use of Music for Immersive & Mixed Reality category and received two nominations at the 10th Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival for Best New Media and Virtual Reality categories. Her signature creative approach, the "Style-Blending" method, treats musical style as a flexible, evolving, and rule-breaking language shaped by intuitive connections within the musical universe. This philosophy has contributed to her recognition through 35 awards and honors in recent years, including the 2026 and 2025 Grand Prizes for Best Experimental Music, the Best Composer of the Future award at the World Film Festival in Cannes, multiple Telly Awards, and two Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA).
Yang’s 2025 release, Invisible Attraction, explores quantum-inspired emotional entanglement through a fusion of intellect and emotion, where inevitability emerges at the intersection of vulnerability, ambiguity, and intensity. The work investigates the convergence of sensibility, interconnection, and complexity by merging emotion, harmony, instrumentation, and sound into a dialogue of interconnected human experiences. Upon release, the album reached #1 on Amazon’s Best-Selling Jazz Albums chart and #3 on the iTunes Jazz Chart. It also received the 2026 Grand Prize for Best Experimental Music from the World Film Festival in Cannes, as well as Best Original Song at the 2025 IndieX Film Festival.
Her multimedia projects, "Bullet Symphony - Live Coding for Everyone" , has received multiple accolades, including the 2024 HMMA Special Recognition in New Media, the 2024 Telly Award for Best Use of Music in a Promotional Video. She also received the 2025 Telly Award for Craft: Best Use of Music for the ongoing multimedia project The Integration of Technical Singularity and Musical Creativity. In 2024, her album "The Realm of Desire" redefined futurism through philosophical and musical explorations of nirvana-the cycles of existence, birth, and rebirth. Its conceptual paradox, in which opposites transform into their counterparts or reveal unity, earned international acclaim, including nominations for Best Composer and Best Original Music at the Cannes World Film Festival Annual Gala. It also received honors from the IndieX Film Festival, Indie Shorts Fest, and the Global Music 2x Golden Awards. Other highlights include: 2024 Cannes World Film Festival: Best Original Song (Shadow Beneath Fantasy) and Best Composer of the Future (Chinese Magic Box) 2023 Album - The Touch of the Surging Tide: Collaboration with acclaimed South Indian artists, Grammy® winner Brent Fischer (advisor), and Grammy-accredited producer Devan Ekambaram. Submitted to the 2024 Grammy Awards® (Contemporary Instrumental), the album won multiple Global Music Awards (Gold & Silver) and was nominated for the New Age Notes Radio Music Awards. 2022 HMMA: Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Music (The Lord of the Flame) 2016 Montreal "View of the World" Film & Music Festival: Best Original Music (The World Is a Retro) 2009 Debut Album - The Road to Wutumeiren: Released by Universal Records China, praised by UK producer Guy Sigsworth, and later awarded Best Original Song by the Cannes World Film Festival (2024) Yang is also a proud voting member of the Emmy® Music Peer Group.
Tech-Driven Music Venture In 2017, Yang founded Mercury Orbit Music, a tech-driven startup bridging music and emerging technologies. Her entrepreneurial achievements include: Leading an interdisciplinary team of AI scientists, programmers, and Grammy-nominated musicians to the XPRIZE, where Mercury Orbit was recognized as one of the Top 30 AI technologies worldwide (2018) Delivering a TEDx Talk (2020) on the future of AI and music Receiving two California Arts Council grants for the pilot program AI-Enabled Music Education (2022) Speaking at the XPRIZE 30-Year Celebration (2024) as one of five presenters on the long-term impact of AI music innovation Leading an elite team of quantum scientists and programmers in the 2025 XPRIZE Quantum Applications Competition, developing the first quantum-driven music generation application, already adopted by the Rowland Unified School District and two Southern California arts institutions Serving as a California Arts Council Panelist (2025) to evaluate statewide arts grant applications Inventing and developing the first-ever quantum music generator, MeloMuse Serving as a panelist at Filmmaking for Youth (2026), presenting a new perspective on music at the intersection of technology, cross-disciplinary arts, and smart education
Social Enterprise As the founder of the Mercury Music Foundation, Yang advances music education by integrating emerging technologies, computational approaches, and creative pedagogy to expand access to transformative and inclusive music learning experiences.
Music Creation
Renowned for her distinctive artistry and pioneering integration of emerging technologies with compositional language, Yang has earned international recognition for her cross-disciplinary Quantum Symphony series. The project premiered at Château de La Napoule during her artist residency, where she was selected as the only composer among 10 global artists chosen for the La Napoule Art Foundation’s 2026 Spring Global Artists Residency Program. The premiere introduced a groundbreaking cross-media presentation combining visual storytelling, immersive sound experiences, and a reinterpretation of quantum concepts through artistic expression.
To date, this project has earned Yang her third Telly Award recognition in the Best Use of Music for Immersive & Mixed Reality category and received two nominations at the 10th Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival for Best New Media and Virtual Reality categories. Her signature creative approach, the "Style-Blending" method, treats musical style as a flexible, evolving, and rule-breaking language shaped by intuitive connections within the musical universe. This philosophy has contributed to her recognition through 35 awards and honors in recent years, including the 2026 and 2025 Grand Prizes for Best Experimental Music, the Best Composer of the Future award at the World Film Festival in Cannes, multiple Telly Awards, and two Hollywood Music in Media Awards (HMMA).
Yang’s 2025 release, Invisible Attraction, explores quantum-inspired emotional entanglement through a fusion of intellect and emotion, where inevitability emerges at the intersection of vulnerability, ambiguity, and intensity. The work investigates the convergence of sensibility, interconnection, and complexity by merging emotion, harmony, instrumentation, and sound into a dialogue of interconnected human experiences. Upon release, the album reached #1 on Amazon’s Best-Selling Jazz Albums chart and #3 on the iTunes Jazz Chart. It also received the 2026 Grand Prize for Best Experimental Music from the World Film Festival in Cannes, as well as Best Original Song at the 2025 IndieX Film Festival.
Her multimedia projects, "Bullet Symphony - Live Coding for Everyone" , has received multiple accolades, including the 2024 HMMA Special Recognition in New Media, the 2024 Telly Award for Best Use of Music in a Promotional Video. She also received the 2025 Telly Award for Craft: Best Use of Music for the ongoing multimedia project The Integration of Technical Singularity and Musical Creativity. In 2024, her album "The Realm of Desire" redefined futurism through philosophical and musical explorations of nirvana-the cycles of existence, birth, and rebirth. Its conceptual paradox, in which opposites transform into their counterparts or reveal unity, earned international acclaim, including nominations for Best Composer and Best Original Music at the Cannes World Film Festival Annual Gala. It also received honors from the IndieX Film Festival, Indie Shorts Fest, and the Global Music 2x Golden Awards. Other highlights include: 2024 Cannes World Film Festival: Best Original Song (Shadow Beneath Fantasy) and Best Composer of the Future (Chinese Magic Box) 2023 Album - The Touch of the Surging Tide: Collaboration with acclaimed South Indian artists, Grammy® winner Brent Fischer (advisor), and Grammy-accredited producer Devan Ekambaram. Submitted to the 2024 Grammy Awards® (Contemporary Instrumental), the album won multiple Global Music Awards (Gold & Silver) and was nominated for the New Age Notes Radio Music Awards. 2022 HMMA: Best Sci-Fi/Fantasy Music (The Lord of the Flame) 2016 Montreal "View of the World" Film & Music Festival: Best Original Music (The World Is a Retro) 2009 Debut Album - The Road to Wutumeiren: Released by Universal Records China, praised by UK producer Guy Sigsworth, and later awarded Best Original Song by the Cannes World Film Festival (2024) Yang is also a proud voting member of the Emmy® Music Peer Group.
Tech-Driven Music Venture In 2017, Yang founded Mercury Orbit Music, a tech-driven startup bridging music and emerging technologies. Her entrepreneurial achievements include: Leading an interdisciplinary team of AI scientists, programmers, and Grammy-nominated musicians to the XPRIZE, where Mercury Orbit was recognized as one of the Top 30 AI technologies worldwide (2018) Delivering a TEDx Talk (2020) on the future of AI and music Receiving two California Arts Council grants for the pilot program AI-Enabled Music Education (2022) Speaking at the XPRIZE 30-Year Celebration (2024) as one of five presenters on the long-term impact of AI music innovation Leading an elite team of quantum scientists and programmers in the 2025 XPRIZE Quantum Applications Competition, developing the first quantum-driven music generation application, already adopted by the Rowland Unified School District and two Southern California arts institutions Serving as a California Arts Council Panelist (2025) to evaluate statewide arts grant applications Inventing and developing the first-ever quantum music generator, MeloMuse Serving as a panelist at Filmmaking for Youth (2026), presenting a new perspective on music at the intersection of technology, cross-disciplinary arts, and smart education
Social Enterprise As the founder of the Mercury Music Foundation, Yang advances music education by integrating emerging technologies, computational approaches, and creative pedagogy to expand access to transformative and inclusive music learning experiences.
