Yajie Ye, a versatile young conductor, is gaining international recognition for her fresh and collaborative approach to contemporary music. Awarded conducting scholarships by Divertimento Ensemble (Milan) and Mostly Modern Festival (New York) in 2024. She has won the Second Prize in the Conducting Category of the Gabriel Fauré Music World Competition 2024. Yajie has also been selected for the Young Conductor’s Scheme Workshop, working with the Crouch End Festival Chorus. In the same year, she has worked with Opera de Baugé in the competition as a finalist. In 2023, her talents were recognised with a conducting fellowship at the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Italy, and she participated in the Glover-Edwards Conducting Programme at the Royal Academy of Music. As an assistant musical director, she worked alongside Melissa Foster (Northwestern University) at the Chicago International Youth Musical Theatre Camp in 2019, the same year she won the First Prize Choral Director Award at the 9th Chorus Competition of South China Normal University. Currently, she is the founder and director of Pavilion Ensemble.
Furthermore, her conducting experience spans collaborations in workshops with Hard Rain Ensemble, NEW Sinfonia, Royal Northern College of Music Chamber Orchestra, Derbyshire City & County Youth Wind Band, and the Royal Welsh College of Music Chamber Choir, showcasing her adeptness in orchestral and choral domains. As a composer, her music has been performed by the London Oriana Choir Scholars, the Mavron Quartet, and her Clarinet and Piano Duo Doubt premiered at the 13th European Clarinet Association Congress in Salerno, Italy. Yajie has been recognised for both her vocal and piano talents on international stages. She was awarded the Second-Class award in the Operatic Aria – Youth Class A category at the 2019 Hong Kong International Vocal Open Competition and received the Second Prize in the Vocal Music Competition at the American California International Youth Arts Festival. In addition to her vocal accomplishments, Yajie also earned the Second Prize in the Group A Tchaikovsky category of the “Liszt Award” Hong Kong International Piano Open Competition, showcasing her exceptional musicianship across disciplines.
An experienced choral singer, she has received the Choral Scholarship from the London Oriana Choir and the Lanfine Choral Exhibitioner Scholarship from the University of Glasgow. She has worked closely with the BBC Symphony Chorus, BBC National Chorus of Wales, Edinburgh International Festival Chorus, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Chorus, the Three Choirs Festival Youth Choir, and the National Youth Choir of Scotland. From conducting to composition to vocal facilitation, she has a detailed, systematic approach to every facet of her music, and is known for an optimistic, goal-oriented leadership presence that gives her fellow musicians confidence.
Yajie is currently a PhD researcher at King’s College London under the supervision of Dr Amy Blier-Carruthers and completed an MPhil in conducting practice under the supervision of Prof John Butt at the University of Glasgow. She is a former conducting student of Adrian Partington (BBC NOW). Her deep engagement with composition and vocal performance during her undergraduate studies at Cardiff University paved her way in the conducting realm.
As a researcher, she has presented her research at the International Conductors Guild Conference 2025 (London), EPARM Conference (Thailand), the RMA/BFE Research Students' Conference (Cambridge), the Twelfth Biennial International Conference on Music Since 1900 (Birmingham), Sphere of Singing (Glasgow), and UNC-KCL Music Conference (North Carolina, U.S.). Also, she was an editor at eSharp Journal. As a research assistant, she works on the project 'The silence that is not a rest: juggling performing and parenting' with Prof. Christina Scharff.
