Salome Yichi Zhang

Salome Yichi Zhang

Composer · Sound Artist · Music Technologist

Salome Yichi Zhang (b. 2002) is an award-winning Chinese-Canadian composer and sound artist working across sound art, film, and music technology. In New York City, her multichannel and multimedia works have been presented at THE BLANC, Flohaus Gallery, and NYU’s Audio Lab, including work produced by Michael Schumacher. While studying in Boston, her work was presented at Cyber Arts Gallery, Emerson Media Art Studio, and Fenway Art Studio.

Zhang began her composition studies at the University of Toronto on a top-level scholarship before transferring to Berklee College of Music as a recipient of its World Tour Scholarship Award. She earned a B.M. in Electronic Production and Design and Film Scoring and was mentored by Neil Leonard at the Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute. After graduation, she continued working with Leonard as a production assistant on Midtown Sound: Listening Legacy, his solo exhibition at THE BLANC.

She has contributed music and sound to independent features, television productions, and more than 20 short films and animations. She was one of the sound designers on Blue Planet Outside the Window, the first live-action 8K documentary filmed entirely in space, and contributed to Hope You Have a Good Trip, the final feature by internationally acclaimed Tibetan filmmaker Pema Tseden, alongside projects with iQIYI and MIT’s Project Prakash. In 2025, her string quartet composition was featured on the Gaia Quartet’s Canadian tour and presented at the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto.

ARTISTIC PRACTICE & RESERCH

Her practice explores womanhood, migration, memory, and cultural inheritance through composition, sound, color, and technology. Drawing on her background in film composition, she adopts a “show, don’t tell” approach, using metaphor, symbolism, spatial sound, physical processes, and recurring motifs such as the color blue to evoke emotional and lived experiences indirectly.

Her artistic research extends into music cognition and neuroscience, examining how particular musical choices communicate specific emotions. This inquiry is informed by her experience working with directors and collaborators, who often articulate musical intentions through emotional, contextual, and metaphorical language.

EDUCATION

2023–2026

Berklee College of Music

Boston, USA

Bachelor of Music in Electronic Production and Design & Film Scoring | GPA 3.7

· Minor in Creative Coding

· Specialization in Sound Design for Video Games

· Affiliation: Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute

· Berklee College of Music World Tour Scholarship

2020–2023

University of Toronto

Toronto, Canada

Bachelor of Music in Composition | GPA 3.8

· Focused on orchestration, chamber writing, and interdisciplinary collaboration

· University of Toronto Entrance Scholarship

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2026

THE BLANC

New York, USA

Confluence: A Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute Showcase

Production Assistant

· Curated and artistically directed by Neil Leonard; the first collaboration between THE BLANC and BIAI.

2025–2026

THE BLANC

New York, USA

Midtown Sound: Listening Legacy

Production Assistant

· Neil Leonard's inaugural New York solo exhibition and THE BLANC's inaugural artist-in-residence exhibition.

2025–2026

Berklee Interdisciplinary Arts Institute (BIAI)

Boston, USA

Interdisciplinary Artist / Production Assistant

· Mentored by Neil Leonard; developed interdisciplinary projects including Connecting Lines, CLOUD, and In-Between, integrating composition, spatial audio, interactive systems, and installation.

AWARDS & HONORS

2025

ICMC Call for student multichannel work

· Finalist

2024

Vivaldi International Competition

· Winner

2024

Denny Awards International Electronic Music Competition

· Finalist

2023

LevelUp Showcase, presented by Ubisoft

· Honorable Mention

2023

Berklee College of Music World Tour Scholarship

· Recipient

2020

University of Toronto Entrance Scholarship

· Recipient

SELECTED WORKS & RECOGNITIONS

2025

Gaia Quartet

· Finalist

2025

IMMERSED 2.0 — Bedford Trio

· Finalist

PRESS & FEATURES

2026

Berklee Electronic Production and Design Newsletter

"EPD Graduate in the News"

· Featured The Blue Left Spinning and its Art Mag coverage

2026

Berklee Electronic Production and Design Instagram

"What Are You Making?"

· Artist Spotlight — The Blue Left Spinning

2026

Art Mag

"Salome Yichi Zhang: Blue Left Spinning"

· Art Critique

PERFORMANCE & OTHER CREATIVE EXPERIENCE

2026

WaterFire Arts Center

Providence, RI, USA

RIFT — Yuval Gar

Live Electronics & Keyboard Performer

2025

THE BLANC

New York, USA

Metamorphosis — Ophelia Ariadne

Pianist

2023-2024

El Mocambo / Queen Elizabeth Theatre / Victoria College

Toronto, Canada

Indie Rock Band Performances

Bass Guitarist

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