MI SUCCESS STORY: NIA YANG “YANG YANG”

Nia Yang, also known as Yang Yang, is a music producer, multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter, and music educator based in Shanghai, China. Yang’s love for music began when she started playing classical piano at the age of four, but it was her parents’ collection of Michael Jackson and Motown albums influenced her love for both classical and contemporary music. Yang stepped into the underground scene, and joined emo, post hardcore, and metal band before she started working with a major artist as a musician on keyboard.

Although she played keyboard since 2007 and eventually wrote her own songs, Yang decided that she wanted to experience the energy and inspiration of L.A.

Yang eventually enrolled at Musicians Institute and graduated from the IAP program in 2015. She had started to establish some of her own success before MI, but her education and connections established here took her music career to the next level.

Before she even graduated, Yang was already producing and writing for a few shows and artists back home in China, including songwriting the Sephora Asia theme song in 2014 and playing keyboards for Dong Ye Song’s tour from 2013 through 2014. During her stay at MI, she often played live at venues in and around Los Angeles, further solidifying her stage performance. She also previously fronted, wrote and played for Tinderbox, a band that saw success back home in China. Right now, Yang is working on new solo material while also working with other artists. Yang shares that the most important thing she learned here at MI was to be professional, always. She says,

Everything is based on discipline. It’s the same thing like music theory and recording technique. If you wanna create it, first you have to own it and believe yourself.