Hailed by the Boston Globe for elevating the experience of new music from “great to unforgettable,” conductor Tianhui Ng is fast becoming one of the most sought-after interpreters of new music in the United States.
As Music Director of White Snake Projects, Tian is proud to lead a team that has given more than 50 world premieres since 2020, working with numerous composers across the spectrum of musical styles and identities, to enhance access and representation in the world of opera. This work leverages explorations with many of the world’s leading technologists in opera, with innovations including performance practices for new technologies, performing in virtual spaces through facial motion capture technology, avatars, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality.
Tian is particularly proud of his work on Alice in the Pandemic, which was selected by the Library of Congress as one of the most outstanding works of art produced in the US during the Pandemic, and is now featured in a special collection.
A specialist in cross cultural dialogue, Tian has conducted operas around the world, including the premieres of the world’s first opera fully sung in Chickasaw, Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate’s Shell Shaker, the world’s first operas in Yoruba, bridging West African courtly traditions with the contemporary world of opera, and a historically informed performance of a Feminist reading of George Frederic Handel’s Oreste at the Singapore International Festival of the Arts.
A versatile musician, he is equally at home in the realm of orchestral, choral music and contemporary music, He has conducted orchestras around the world, including the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, National Philharmonic of Ukraine Lviv, Savaria Symphony Orchestra (Hungary), Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech Republic), Dartington Festival Orchestra (UK), Orchestra of the Royal Opera of Wallonie (Belgium), Oklahoma City Philharmonic (US), and the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra (US). And appeared with ensembles like the Stuttgart Chamber Choir (Germany), Carnegie Hall Festival Chorus (US), Canterbury Voices (US), Yale Choral Artists (US), and the Young Person’s Chorus of New York (US) and has appeared at festivals like Accademia Musicale Chigiana (IT), Composer Conference (US) and the Oregon Bach Festival (US). He has collaborated with internationally renowned artists such as Elena Araoz, Dashon Burton, Chaya Czernowin, Reena Esmail, John Harbison, Sam Helfrich, Paul Jacobs, Meredith Monk, Marcus Eiche, Samuel Vargas, Ayano Kataoka, Ilya Polataev, Astrid Schween, Sara Davis Buechner, Hanna Elisabeth Müller, Nicholas Phan, George Tsontakis, Yehudi Wyner, Soyoung Yoon, and many others.
In the 2025-2026 Season, Tian looks forward to his debut with Symphony New Hampshire in their season finale with Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto and Elgar’s Enigma Variations, Anchorage Opera in Huang Ruo’s Bound, and the premiere of Jacinth Greywoode and Cerise Jacobs’s new Sci-Fi opera, White Raven Black Dove, with the internationally acclaimed White Snake Projects.
Tianhui Ng also serves as the Music Director of the New England Philharmonic, the Pioneer Valley Symphony, and the Victory Players. He is Professor of Music at Mount Holyoke College.
Stay in touch with Tian on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Photo credit: Manon Halliburton Photography