About
Miko Yau is a percussionist, pianist, educator, and cultural advocate from Hong Kong whose artistic vision centers on fostering collaboration and cultural exchange through music. She holds a Master of Music in Performance from Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where she studied under Professor Nancy Zeltsman and served as a Piano Accompanist from January 2024 to May 2025. Supported by a full scholarship — HKSAR Government’s Multi-faceted Excellence Scholarship, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music and Translation from The University of Hong Kong. Miko now serves as a freelance musician and percussion band director in local Hong Kong schools, dedicated to performing and nurturing the next generation of musicians and inspiring young artists.
As a founding member of Mello Duo, Miko collaborates with Taiwanese cellist Tiffany to explore the intersection of Asian traditions and contemporary chamber music. In summer 2025, the duo was invited by JustBook-ish Bookstore, which is a cultural hub in Dorchester, Massachusetts founded by a Black American culture advocate. Mello Duo was invited to present a recital celebrating the shared cultural heritages of Hong Kong and Taiwan. Their program featured commissioned works by professors from The University of Hong Kong and National Kaohsiung Normal University, followed by a post-recital talk on Hong Kong’s neon aesthetics and Taiwanese folk tunes.
In 2024, Mello Duo received the Lawrence Chamber Music Festival Fellowship, performing Night Music I by Professor Chan Hing-yan in Appleton, Wisconsin. Sharing Asian contemporary music in a predominantly white community, the duo engaged in meaningful post-concert conversations with audiences eager to learn about Asian culture and sound.
Miko’s artistic practice extends across genres and disciplines. She was one of the percussionists in the Toolbox Percussion Mainland China Tour 2025, collaborating with dancers and theatre artists to create interdisciplinary performance experiences. Beyond the stage, she actively engages the public through music workshops at Hong Kong arts venues such as Tai Kwun and Artistree, as well as in local schools, reflecting her belief that music is a universal language accessible to everyone.
In recognition of her artistic achievements, Miko was selected to receive the Emerging Artists Development Grant from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. She will hold a 2026 recital in Hong Kong with Mello Duo, bringing her Taiwanese duo partner to perform alongside her. The program will feature contemporary works by Grammy-nominated composers such as Andy Akiho and Caroline Shaw, as well as new commissions from both established and emerging Asian composers, bridging cultures and generations through sound.
Miko also recorded WAS/WERE, a contemporary music album featuring seven original works by Singaporean composer Benedict Koh, performing vibraphone alongside an international ensemble of musicians.