Alumna is new assistant conductor of the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Congratulations to ISM alumna, Yiran Zhao M.M. ’23, on her appointment as one of the new assistant conductors of the Boston Symphony Orchestra beginning in the 2026–27 season. A graduate of the choral conducting program at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music and Yale School of Music, Zhao’s appointment marks a significant milestone in an already distinguished and rapidly rising career.
Born and raised in China, Zhao was a 2025 Conducting Fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center, where she led 15 performances with the TMC Orchestra, vocal fellows, and chamber ensembles. Her repertoire included L’enfant et les sortilèges by Maurice Ravel, Dance Suite by Béla Bartók, Four Black American Dances by Carlos Simon, as well as several world premieres. Zhao and colleague Szymon Przybycień will also make their BSO conducting debuts as assistant conductors during the 2027 Tanglewood season.
In addition to conducting, Zhao is an accomplished composer, pianist, and singer. She was the national winner of the American Prize for Composition in 2024 and received the Robert Shaw Prize while studying at Yale. Zhao currently sings soprano with the GRAMMY-winning ensemble Apollo’s Fire and with The Crossing, and serves as a Rita E. Hauser Conducting Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music, studying with Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Jim Ross while assisting orchestras and Curtis Opera productions.
The Institute of Sacred Music warmly congratulates Zhao on this extraordinary achievement and celebrates this exciting new chapter in her artistic journey.
Yiran Zhao in a conducting class at Yale. Photo by Harold Shapiro.