Percussionist | Performer | EDUCATOR

HSIAO-TUNG YUAN is a Taiwanese percussionist whose work spans solo performance, contemporary music, and collaboration with composers and ensembles. She was awarded the 2026 Pelle Prize in recognition of her artistic work.

With more than two decades of professional experience, Yuan was a member of Taiwan’s internationally acclaimed Ju Percussion Group from 2005 to 2016, performing in hundreds of concerts and touring extensively internationally. As a soloist and ensemble musician, she has collaborated with ensembles including the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra, Copenhagen Phil, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, Det Kongelige Kapels Slagtøjsgruppe, and Mathias Reumert Group. Her solo performances have been presented at festivals and platforms including the Copenhagen Opera Festival, KLANG, MINU, Ung Nordisk Musik Örebro, Muhos IV Life Art Festival, and Periferien in Oslo.

Based in Copenhagen since 2016, Yuan has developed a strong focus on contemporary music and new artistic collaborations. She is a member of K!ART, a Copenhagen-based experimental new music collective, where she works closely with composers on the creation and performance of new works. She has also collaborated with the Danish Chamber Orchestra, Danish Concert Band, Northern Opera Company, Ars Nova Copenhagen, and Current Resonance, and has contributed to recordings released by Dacapo and Naxos Denmark.

In January 2021, Yuan gave her debut soloist concert after completing the Advanced Postgraduate Soloist Programme at the Royal Danish Academy of Music, where she also obtained a Master’s degree. Since 2022, she has developed Hsiao Solo Project, a sustained collaboration with composers aimed at expanding the contemporary solo percussion repertoire and exploring new possibilities for percussion through sound, movement, electronics, and interdisciplinary practice.

She is also co-founder of Dong Studio, an initiative connecting international artistic exchange with her hometown of Taichung, Taiwan.

Following her solo concert in September 2023, Seismograf wrote: “A car manual and the magic of the hand: ‘What would this hand be used for? The answer was that it had to be used for an incredible amount during the five exciting and varied works that made up the excellent concert.’”

Throughout her career, she has always maintained dual roles as a musician and educator. As a member of the esteemed Ju Percussion Group, she taught at the Ju Percussion Music School for many years in Taiwan and China. She also taught at Academy of Music at Suzhou University of Science and Technology in China, as she contributed to establishing the percussion section. She has employed at Odsherred Musikskole, where she teaches percussion and also piano and music theory. Her recent lecture activities including lecture tour in China and masterclasses in Norway and Taiwan.