Yap Siu Yan

Malaysian percussionist Siu Yan Yap has been an active performer in Malaysia, Singapore and the United States of America since 2009. She has performed in professional ensembles such as the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Westmoreland Symphony, Resonance Works at Pittsburgh, and the National Symphony Orchestra of Malaysia. As a somewhat crazy artist, Siu Yan enjoys exploring music with unlimited possibilities. She loves the vast choices of percussion instruments; she also loves playing music using non-conventional instruments such as papers, suitcases, trash cans, and duct tape etc.

Other than performing, Siu Yan enjoys teaching too. She currently serves as the Mallet Percussion Lecturer of the Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjung Malim. She also started the Creative Percussion Ensemble class for non-percussionists in the Malaysian Institute of Art, Kuala Lumpur.

Siu Yan received her Master of Music Degree in Percussion Performance from the Carnegie Mellon School of Music (USA) in 2015, where she studied with Chris Allen, Jeremy Branson, and Paul Evans. In 2013, she received her Bachelor Degree in Percussion Performance with First Class Honors from Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore), where she studied with Jonathan Fox. Siu Yan also did a semester of exchange in the Peabody School of Music (USA), where she focused on early music and contemporary music on marimba with marimbist Robert van Sice. Prior to study percussion seriously, Siu Yan studied privately with the Opera North Principal Timpanist, Paul Philbert.

In her free time, Siu Yan enjoys swimming and drawing. She loves cat and her favorite food is durian!