Biography
Byron Au Yong composes songs of dislocation prompted by a broken lineage. Born to immigrants in Pittsburgh and raised in Seattle, his upbringing informs a creative process that examines tensions between the American Dream and sustainability. Current projects include 9 Lifeboats (San Francisco Exploratorium) and Activist Songbook (Asian Arts Initiative, International Festival of Arts & Ideas).
He is the artist-in-residence at: the A/P/A Institute at NYU, the Montalvo Arts Center, Rutgers Unicersity Center for Migration & the Global City, Westminster Choir College, and Yale Institute for Music Theatre.
- Appointments
- Advisor, Velocity Dance Center
- Advisor, New England Foundation for the Arts National Theater Project
- Board Member, Music of Asian America Research Center
- Education
- MFA in Musical Theatre Writing, NYU Tisch School of the Arts
- MA in World Arts & Cultures/Dance, UCLA
- BA/BM in Music Composition/Theory, University of Washington
- Experience
- Assistant Professor, University of San Francisco
- Adjunct Faculty, Cornish College of the Arts
- Teaching Fellow, UCLA
- Awards & Distinctions
Artist Trust Fellowship
Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award
Creative Capital Award
MAP Fund Award
Sundance Institute/Time Warner Foundation Fellow