Originally from Shanghai, Yifei Zhou is a vocalist, composer, and interdisciplinary artist whose work moves between songwriting, improvisation, and experimental sound. She studied jazz voice performance at the New England Conservatory and the Global Jazz Institute, working with artists including Danilo Pérez, Jason Moran, Jason Palmer, Linda Oh, Dominique Eade, Ted Reichman, Frank Carlberg, John Mallia, James Diaz, Stratis Minakakis, and Anthony Coleman. Her practice is grounded in deep listening, emotional honesty, and an ongoing exploration of space, silence, and transformation.

Yifei’s music draws from jazz, electronic music, rock, pop, ambient, and folk traditions, often blurring the line between composition and free exploration. She is interested in sound as an environment—how texture, breath, repetition, and restraint can hold memory, grief, and tenderness. While melody remains central to her work, she is increasingly drawn toward minimalism, noise, and non-linear song forms.

She has been a mentee of Aubrey Johnson and the Women in Jazz Organization, and in 2024 was selected as an Emerging Artist by the Washington Women in Jazz Organization. Yifei has performed internationally at venues and festivals including Blue Note Shanghai, Shanghai Jazz Festival, Shanghai Jazz Club, Wooden Box, Wally’s, and Jordan Hall. She founded the quartet Locomotive, which performed in Shanghai, and later joined the experimental band Joyce for their 2023 West Coast tour, performing in Boston, New York City, and across the West Coast.

In 2024, Yifei formed her songwriting project and performed extensively in New York City and Boston, including at The Middle East, Nublu, The Pianos, and Pink Frog Café. She is currently working on her debut album, integrating sound design, field recordings, and visual elements.

Beyond music, Yifei studies Eastern philosophy, folk traditions, Buddhism, visual art, and poetry. Residency time is essential to her process, offering the solitude and continuity needed to develop work that is intuitive, vulnerable, and deeply attentive..