Yvonne Tay is an award-winning professional guzheng musician whose work engages both traditional practice and contemporary repertoire. Her artistic approach centres on exploring how the guzheng can be presented in local and contemporary contexts through new commissions and interdisciplinary collaborations.
A key aspect of Tay’s practice lies in her work as an Artistic leader. She served as the Artistic Director of Music Kneads (2022), a multisensory guzheng concert that brought together music and culinary elements, and included newly commissioned works that contributed to the expansion of guzheng repertoire. She was also the Artistic and Ensemble Lead for Ding Yi Music Company’s Go Local! Harmonious Chinese New Year Concert (2026), where she curated a concert aimed at being inclusive and engaging diverse communities to foster social harmony.
Tay is also actively involved in the broader music ecosystem. She serves as Vice Chairman of the Singapore Chinese Music Federation Youth Chapter and Secretary-General of the Singapore Qinzheng Association, where she supports initiatives related to youth development and professional exchange within the traditional Chinese music sector.
As a full-time musician with Ding Yi Music Company, Tay performs regularly in chamber settings, contributing to the presentation of Chinese instrumental music within a contemporary ensemble context. She has collaborated with local and international composers on new works for guzheng solo, chamber, and orchestral settings, and has participated in a number of world and Singapore premieres such as Wang Danhong’s As Thus, Zhou Jiaying’s Treading on Fragrance, Jon Lin Chua’s Lament, all of which were met with rave reviews.
As a soloist, Tay has performed with orchestras including the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, the Asian Cultural Symphony Orchestra, and the China National Symphony Orchestra. She was the featured soloist for the opening ceremony of the Youth Olympic Games 2010. Her work extends to recorded media, such as the prestigious international production libraries Orchestra Tools – Phoenix Library (2018), the Marina Bay Sands Light and Water Spectacular – “Wonder Full”, composed by late Cultural Medallion winner Iskandar Mirza Ismail, in 2011, as well as the Marina Bay Countdown 2011, 2014 and 2021. She was also the guzheng recording artist on the original motion picture soundtrack for Disney’s Mulan (2020).
Tay holds a Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours from the Royal College of Music and the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and is a recipient of the National Arts Council Arts Scholarship. She studied under Yin Qun, whose mentorship contributed to her technical and musical development. Today, she is recognised as one of the nation’s best young soloists by The Straits Times, which described her as a sensitive protagonist whose playing bridges heritage and present-day expression.
An experienced educator, Tay is an adjunct lecturer at Singapore Raffles Music College and an active instructor of several guzheng ensembles in Singapore. Tay has also served as an adjudicator for international competitions in Macau and Indonesia, and is frequently invited as a guest lecturer and speaker.
Through sustained excellence in performance, new work creation, collaboration across disciplines, and artistic leadership, Tay continues to shape the evolving landscape of guzheng music in Singapore and beyond.
