“Original and poetic, full of emotion and pathos, not tied to the film but illustrating it. I felt envious that I would never write something like this, which I guess is the ultimate compliment. Congrats whoever you are, you got it right! “

— The three judges of The 2nd Annual CINE Film Scoring Competition for Emerging Composers:
Mychael Danna (Academy Awards winner, Life of Pi film composer),
George S. Clinton (Chair of Berklee College of Music’s Film Scoring Department),
Daniel Carlin (Chair of Film Scoring at USC’s Thornton School of Music)

 

 

 

Born in Taoyuan, Taiwan, in 1983, composer Chien-Yu Huang blends Eastern and Western influences into an invigorating musical language that draws on diverse elements. His work spans concert music, film, and theater, and has been performed by soloists and ensembles worldwide, earning him numerous accolades.

Huang has received awards and selections in a wide range of composition competitions, including: Selection for Vox Novus’ Fifteen Minutes of Fame (2024); Selection for the Juventas New Music Ensemble’s Call for Works Featuring Flute (2024); Special Prize (Special Mention) in the ISAC International Popular Music Composition Competition (2023); Selection for the Taipei Symphony Orchestra’s Call for Opera in Mandarin Chinese (2020); Grand Prize in the Physician’s Chamber Orchestra of Taiwan’s Call for Scores for the 30th Anniversary Concert (2020); Regional Winner (Region I) in the SCI/ASCAP Student Commission Competition (2008); Winner of ERM Media’s Masterworks of the New Era Competition (2008); and Winner of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra’s Call for Orchestral Works for its 40th Anniversary (2009).

Additional honors include: an Award of Excellence from the Tsang-Houei Hsu Cultural and Art Foundation’s Competition for the Selection and Performance of Outstanding Works by Young Composers (2005); Honorable Mention in Taiwan’s Ministry of Education Literature and Arts Awards (2005); Finalist in the Council for Cultural Affairs’ Formosa Composition Competition (Chamber Music Category) (2004); Winner in two categories of the National Taiwan Arts Education Center’s Competition for Teaching Materials of Taiwanese Local Music—String Orchestra Works (2011); and Selection in the Nantou County Government’s Sun Moon Lake Songwriting Contest (2011).

In film scoring, Huang received Honorable Mention in The Indie Gathering International Film Scoring Competition (2010) and was selected among the Top 30 in CINE’s Film Scoring Competition for Emerging Composers (2014). His score for the short animated film The Lighthouse (directed and animated by Po-Chou Chi) won Best Original Score at the Los Angeles New Wave International Film Festival (2011), and was nominated for Best Original Score by the Maverick Movie Awards and the Los Angeles Reel Film Festival (2010). As of February 2026, The Lighthouse has amassed over 2.9 million views on YouTube. His film work has been recognized through nominations, awards, and festival screenings worldwide—totaling more than one hundred credits—including the Student Academy Awards, the Golden Bell Awards, the Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, the Sapporo International Short Film Festival & Market, and the Hollywood Film Festival, among others.

Huang has also composed for major official events and private enterprises, including music for the official title sequence of the 54th Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival; music production for the visual-art segment of the 53rd Golden Horse Awards Ceremony; operatic aria arrangements for the 25th Golden Melody Awards for Traditional Arts and Music; and the march for the 21st Summer Deaflympics Taipei. He was also a contracted advertising composer for HTC (2011–2013). The stage music production Water Ghost, City God, in which he participated, was released on CD by Warner Music in 2006 and nominated for Best Classical Album at the 18th Golden Melody Awards. In 2014, he was runner-up in the Ministry of Culture of Taiwan’s Cultural and Creative Value-Adding Competition. His work Taiwan’s Mountains: Guardians of the Motherland, commissioned by the Mazer Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, was performed at the 2023 Summa Cum Laude International Youth Music Festival in Vienna, Austria, and received the SCL Festival Jury Award.

Huang has received commissioned-work grants from the National Culture and Arts Foundation (Taiwan), and his music has been presented at the National Flute Association’s Annual Convention (USA). His compositions have been performed at numerous venues, including Taiwan’s National Concert Hall, National Theater, National Recital Hall, National Taichung Theater Playhouse, and Weiwuying (Opera House, Concert Hall, and Recital Hall), as well as Zhongshan Hall (Zhongcheng Auditorium and Guangfu Auditorium) in Taipei. In the United States, his music has been presented at the New England Conservatory of Music, UCLA, the Phoenix Convention Center, and the Multicultural Arts Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Internationally, performances have taken place at venues such as the Vienna Musikverein (Austria), Fukushima City Concert Hall (Japan), Yongsan Art Hall (South Korea), and Peking University (China), among others.

Since returning to Taiwan in 2014, Huang has taught at National Taiwan Normal University, Fu Jen Catholic University, Soochow University, National Sun Yat-sen University, University of Taipei, National Tsing Hua University, and National Taiwan University of Arts. He previously served as a full-time faculty member in the Department of Ethnomusicology at Nanhua University, and is currently a full-time assistant professor in the Department of Music at the National University of Tainan.

Huang received his B.F.A. in Music from the National Taiwan Normal University (2005) and was awarded the university’s Mu-Dou Award for Student Excellence the following year. He earned his M.M. from the New England Conservatory of Music (2008) and completed his Ph.D. in Music at the University of California, Los Angeles, in early 2014. While abroad, he received scholarships and teaching assistantships, and was awarded Taiwan’s government Study Abroad Scholarship (2010–2012). His composition teachers included Mao-Shuen Chen, Hope Lee, John Mallia, Paul Chihara, David Lefkowitz, Ian Krouse, and Mark Carlson, and he pursued additional studies with Larry Sitsky, Jim Cotter, Richard Cornell, and Bright Sheng. He also took private one-on-one lessons in mixing and mastering with music editor/engineer Tim Starnes (whose credits include The Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong, and Hugo), and studied music production with Hollywood composer Daniel Rojas, associated with Remote Control Productions (founded by Hans Zimmer).

In addition to teaching, Huang is an appointed composer at MangoWork Studio and serves as Composer-in-Residence with the Taiwan Artists Symphony Orchestra and Baroque Camerata. He is regularly commissioned to write music for concerts, arrangements, commercials, films, and other visual media. Recent screen credits include the Public Television Service (Taiwan) series Hate the Sin, Love the Sinner (available on Netflix), Haru and Porky, and the documentary film Phil’s Journey. He has collaborated with ensembles including the Taipei Symphony Orchestra, the National Philharmonic of Ukraine (Kyiv Philharmonic), the Kaohsiung Symphony Orchestra, the Kaohsiung City Wind Orchestra, the Evergreen Symphony Orchestra, Cello⁴, and Viva Flauti! Ensemble, and has received commissions from organizations such as the Taipei Philharmonic Orchestra, the Taipei Chinese Orchestra, the Taoyuan Chinese Orchestra, and the National Symphony Orchestra.

In March 2026, his first album of original compositions, White Clouds & Grey Dogs: Echoes in Flux, will be released by Navona Records, the classical music imprint of the U.S. record label PARMA Recordings.

 

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