Yang and Olivia are sought-after conference presenters, recently featuring underrepresented music by Taiwanese women composers, Western expatriates living in Asian countries as well as premiering non-American composers’ music in the United States.
Founded in January 2018, the Yang and Olivia Arts Foundation is a non-profit 501c3 organization whose mission is to provide a music platform embracing diversity, equality and inclusion. The performances, lectures, and workshops feature music of diverse influences by musicians of various backgrounds. Recently, the foundation supports musicians who dedicated their performances to contemporary works by Taiwanese women composers, American composers residing in Asian countries, and world-premiering music in the United States by non-American composers. They are also very passionate about bringing musicians of diverse cultural and musical backgrounds to different parts of the world, featuring music of various ethnic influences. The organization supports educational opportunities for the youth by coordinating events where professionals from different diversity of groups share their ideas in the format of performances, lectures, masterclasses and applied lessons. Since the foundation’s establishment in 2018, it has organized several live-streaming performances during the pandemic, outreaches to local libraries and schools, performs in various local venues in the Greater Chicago area, and presents in many conferences and music festivals in the state of Illinois and beyond.
The Yang and Olivia arts foundation was founded by the award-winning violin and piano duo Yang and Olivia. Their mission is to reach communities with limited access to quality music performances, such as senior homes and remote townships. As Asian Americans, they highlight their programs with their heritages, featuring Taiwanese and Chinese repertoire in addition to western classical music.
In 2023, the foundation received the USArtist International grant from Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation to perform in major music festivals overseas.
璇揚藝術基金會由榮獲全球音樂銀獎殊榮的小提琴和鋼琴組和璇揚二重奏創辦（劉揚和蔡宜璇）基金會成立於 2018 年 1 月，是一個非營利性 501c3 組織，其使命是提供一個多元化、平等和包容的音樂文化交流平台。最近，該基金會致力於推廣台灣女性作曲家、居住在亞洲國家的西方作曲家以及非美國作曲家在美國的世界首演的當代作品。他們也非常熱衷於將具有不同文化和音樂背景的音樂家帶到世界不同地區，表演有多元文化影響的曲目。該組織通過協調各種活動來支持年輕人的教育機會，來自不同群體的專業人士以表演、講座、大師班和應用課程的形式分享他們的專業知識。基金會自2018年成立以來，在疫情期間組織了多場直播表演，並在許多圖書館，學校，老年中心，社區文化中心，舉辦許多講座和演出，也在世界各地參與國際音樂節的教學與表演。
在2018年的项目里，璇扬艺术中心邀请了来自六个国家的十人室内乐团体Momento Virtuosi到青岛参加西岸国际音乐节，由妙海韵美乐文化交流有限公司主办。
2019年，基金會協助芝加哥音樂教育募款活動，以璇揚二重奏演奏會募款40萬美金為目標，在伊利諾理工學院Herman Hall與Vandercook音樂學院舉辦大型演出。
2020年，因新冠病毒在全球肆虐，基金会的项目占停。但是我们活跃于线上直播，致力于隔离期间的音乐传播。目前透过直播已帮助一些音乐演出机构及学校募款，并提供私人机构线上音乐节目。彼此能够透过直播音乐在网上沟通连结，互相支持渡过难关。
2022年，他們的國際文化交流活動得到肯定，獲得中大西洋藝術基金會USArtist International資助，赴海外各大音樂節演出。
2023年，他們獲選為西方藝術聯盟（Western Arts Alliance）的表演藝術家（Performing Artist Discovery Program)做全球的巡演。
Yang and Olivia are sought-after conference presenters, recently featuring underrepresented music by Taiwanese women composers, Western expatriates living in Asian countries as well as premiering non-American composers’ music in the United States.
Yang and Olivia will be the ensemble in residence for the OPUS Summer Chamber Music Camp in Naperville, IL. They will be working with kids 8-18 years old, lecturing, performing and teaching.
For more information, click here.
Yang and Olivia is a proud recipient of the USArtist International Grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, and is on the roster of the Performing Artist Discovery Program from the Western Arts Alliance.
These honors recognize their efforts in cultural exchange via music.
In 2019, Yang and Olivia foundation gives a fundraising concert for VanderCook College of Music, promoting music education in greater Chicago area. Primary goals include fostering a deeper connection between Illinois Tech, VCM, Bridgeport, and Chinatown, raising awareness for VCM and Illinois Tech within the surrounding communities, and engaging any number of organizations in the process. The concert also aims to raise funds for the refurbish of the performance space colloquially known as the “New Building,” a massive financial undertaking with spectacularly ambitious results. The refurbished space will serve as a performance area that will allow VanderCook to host concerts in a space very close to home.
In recent years, people are more aware of and embrace the diversity of races and genders. However, there are certain groups that are lost in diversity- the westerners residing in Asian countries. This presentation focuses on selected western composers who are established in Taiwan and Korea. Their compositions reflect interesting cultural influences combing musical elements of the East and West. While we acknowledge their musical contributions, their compositions will give the listeners a feast with many different flavors and spices.
is a theme we give to our 2022 outreach. Inspired by our own travels and by the influence of travel on musical styles, we present a program that includes works by a Taiwanese female composer who incorporates ethnic children’s folk songs in her music, an American composer who incorporates Cuban dance music, and ancient Chinese folk tunes arranged for western instruments during a dark time in China when anything western was banned. You will even hear the story of how Mozart traveled hundreds of miles to advance his career and how that effort came to a disappointing end.
We are fortunate to live in an era where the music of all the cultures of the world is easily accessible and musicians are able to draw upon this diversity of cultures. Though music can “travel” more quickly these days, over the course of history, as people traveled thousands of miles to trade between the west and the east for goods such as produce, spices, gold, leather… etc., music traveled along with them. This program showcases the richness and complexities of different music styles and the stories behind them. .
Award-Winning violin and piano duo Yang and Olivia present a soul-searching program, opening with Returning Soul by Shi-Hui Chen, based on a Taiwanese indigenous tribe’s legends, followed by Chihchun Chi-sun Lee’s Isolation and Hysteria, reflecting the soul’s agony during the Covid lockdowns. Other pieces include Cantiga by Grammy-Award nominee Dmitri Cervo, and Double Play by Michael Sidney Timpson.
Our event highlight in 2018 includes a chamber music concert by Momento Virtuosi, a dynamic ensemble of 10 members from 6 different countries featuring programs of diverse instrumentations. This performance is part of the Qingdao West Coast International Music Festival, co-promoted by Qingdao Miao Haiyun Harmony Road Cultural Exchange Co., Ltd. For information on Momento Virtuosi, check out Momento Virtuosi
