One of the most exciting Chinese conductors on the classical music scene today, Huang Yi is currently Music Director of the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra (GSO) and Principal Conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra as well as Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of the Kunming Nie’er Symphony Orchestra. From 2019 until 2023, he was also Chief Conductor of the China National Ballet Symphony Orchestra.

In the 2023/2024 season, Huang Yi officially begins his tenure as GSO Music Director. During the past decade he has conducted the GSO in memorable concerts featuring works by Mahler, Beethoven, Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky, Bernstein, Ding Shande, Qigang Chen, Tan Dun and others. In 2023, he conducted the GSO in its 31st Guangzhou New Year’s Concert. His inspiring creativity has not only been genuinely rejoined by GSO musicians but also received unanimous acclaim among cultural circles.

Huang Yi’s professional career began in 2009 as Maestro Seiji Ozawa’s assistant conductor. In 2012, he was selected by Maestro Long Yu to make his opera debut conducting the China Philharmonic Orchestra in the 15th Beijing Music Festival’s new production of the Chinese original opera Savage Land. In 2013, he served as Christian Thielemann’s assistant conductor, rehearsing Parsifal at the Salzburg Easter Festival. Later that year, he assisted Gustav Kuhn in preparing the Chinese premiere of Parsifal at the 16th Beijing Music Festival. In 2015, he led the world premiere of Andy Akiho’s Ping Pong Concerto (later entitled Ricochet) with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra at the closing concert of Shanghai’s Music in the Summer Air (MISA) festival. Since 2019, he has been invited to conduct New Year’s Concerts by the China Philharmonic Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and GSO. In July 2023, he stepped in to replace Maestro Long Yu to lead MISA’s closing concert.

In 2015, Huang Yi was appointed Assistant Conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra; he also joined the conducting faculty of Central Conservatory of Music. The following year, he became Artistic Director and Chief Conductor of Kunming Nie Er Symphony Orchestra. Later on, he was invited to be assistant professor at Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” Berlin. Since 2021, he has been Principal Conductor of the China Philharmonic Orchestra.

In recent years Huang Yi has successfully conducted Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Frankfurt Symphony Orchestra, Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, New Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa Ongaku-Juku Symphony Orchestra, Busan Philharmonic Orchestra of Korea, and all the leading orchestras in China including Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic, Macao Orchestra, China Central Opera House Symphony Orchestra, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, Hangzhou Philharmonic Orchestra, Guiyang Symphony Orchestra, China NCPA Orchestra, Ningbo Symphony Orchestra, Chengdu Symphony Orchestra and Inner Mongolia Arts Theatre Orchestra. He has worked closely with leading instrumental soloists including Leonidas Kavakos, Gautier Capuçon, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Stephen Hough, Julian Rachlin, Augustin Dumay, Alison Balsom, Andreas Ottensamer, Chengzong Yin, Ning Feng, Siqing Lv, Li-Wei Qin, Haochen Zhang, Sa Chen, Tianwa Yang, and Xuefei Yang, as well as vocalists including Matthias Goerne, Thomas Bauer, Yuqiang Dai, Changyong Liao, Song Wei, Warren Mok, Fang Qiong, Liping Zhang, Chenye Yuan, Ning Liang, Jianyi Zhang, Shenyang, Yuanming Song, Yijie Shi, Linna Gong, to name a few.

Born in 1986 in Beijing, he received his early musical education from his father Huang He, a distinguished music professor. He later studied at the Central Conservatory of Music with Yang Li and Yu Feng. After graduating with a Bachelor’s degree with top scores, Huang Yi remained at the Central Conservatory for graduate studies. From 2011, he pursued further studies in Berlin at the Hochschule für Musik “Hanns Eisler” with Christian Ehwald and Hans-Dieter Baum.