Who?

Muse Ye is a pianist whose work is rooted in connection—creating experiences where people, cultures, and ideas meet through sound. Having lived and worked across New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States, her artistic perspective is shaped by a cross-cultural lens, grounded in collaboration and driven by a curiosity about how we make meaning together.

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Raised in New Zealand, she grew up making music in many forms: playing bassoon in orchestras and bands, piano in chamber groups and jazz ensembles, and singing in multiple choirs. Alongside this wide-ranging musical life, she was a national finalist in the New Zealand Chamber Music Competition, performed with the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra as a soloist, and toured nationally with choirs. These experiences instilled in her a deep belief in making music as a way of listening, responding, and belonging.

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Her time in Singapore expanded this collaborative practice into creation and production. She founded and produced an original jukebox musical, and co-produced an inaugural concert featuring the graduating cohort of the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music. Alongside her work as a solo pianist, she played with community choral organizations in projects such as Haydn’s The Creation, Bernstein’s Mass, and live film concerts.

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In Ithaca, NY, she began exploring digital and multimedia forms of storytelling, producing music videos during the COVID-19 pandemic and developing skills in recording and editing. She went on to curate thematic concerts that integrated live performance with pre-recorded sound, projected visuals, and the use of the full performance space by reimagining the traditional recital as an immersive, interdisciplinary experience.

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Muse holds a Doctor of Musical Arts in Collaborative Piano from the University of Michigan, where she studied with Ana María Otamendi and Martin Katz. Her doctoral work includes research on New Zealand composer Jenny McLeod; a recital program centered on folk songs, spirituals, and well-known classics; and the production of Eve-Song and La chanson d’Ève, an interdisciplinary exploration of womanhood weaving together the music of Jake Heggie and Gabriel Fauré.

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Curious about the inner workings of arts organizations, she has also worked as an Institutional Giving Manager with ArtOps, a consultancy supporting small- to mid-sized arts nonprofits in Southeast Michigan. In this role, she intersected with the grant portfolios of six organizations with budgets ranging from $50,000 to $2 million, gaining insight into the systems that sustain artistic work behind the scenes.

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Across her work as a performer, curator, producer, and administrator, Muse approaches the arts as a systems thinker who is interested in creating meaningful artistic experiences, and expanding access, opportunity, and connection within the broader arts ecosystem.

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She will be joining the Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program with Los Angeles Opera starting in September, 2026. 

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Her recent appearances include Carnegie Hall’s SongStudio, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (FUSE Residency), Aspen Music Festival, Queensland Art Song Festival, Classic Lyric Arts, Hawaii Performing Arts Festival, Opera Lucca, and Opera Company of Middlebury.