Born in Taichung, Taiwan, Ya-Lan Chan currently based in New York. She is active in attending music festivals and workshops, such as Nong Project in Seoul, Etchings Festival, Darmstadt Music Festival, Yarn/Wire institute, Unheard-of ensemble workshop. She also participated in masterclasses with Beat Furrer, Frank Bedrossian, François Sarhann, Milica Djordjevic, Jason Eckardt, and Zosha di Castri. Ya-Lan is becoming more interested in the creative process of music-making, especially to explore the relationship between technology and human and how these two shaped each other during the time. She collaborated with various artistic mediums and had done so with animation, poetry, dancing, and lighting design.
Ya-Lan Chan holds degrees from Manhattan School of Music for Master of Music and Taipei National University of the arts for bachelor in music theory and composition. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Manhattan of Music, where she studies with Dr. Reiko Füting. She also serves as a teaching fellow in the theory department. Her study has been supported by Taiwan Ministry of Education.