A Hong Kong-based composer, Kai-Young Chan focuses on the integration of nuance, relevance, and resonance in music that converses with societies and cultures, and he is particularly drawn to turning the constraints of Cantonese text-setting into creative vehicles for both vocal and non-vocal forces. 

His music is performed across the continents by Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony, PRISM Quartet, Mivos Quartet, Daedalus Quartet, Dolce Suono Ensemble, International Ensemble Modern Academy, and Hong Kong New Ensemble, among other prominent performers. His selected works are released on Ablaze, innova, and PARMA records, with scores published by Editions Peters (London) and Central Conservatory of Music Press(Beijing).

Chan is part of the first artist delegation of American Composers Forum to the Havana Festival for Contemporary Music in Cuba, a historic tour documented by the National Public Radio. His music is featured in two editions of ISCM World Music Days (2015 in Slovenia, 2012 in Belgium), International Rostrum of Composers (2014 in Finland), June in Buffalo (USA), International Forum of New Music Manuel Enriquez (Mexico), Risuonanze Festival (Italy), Internationalen Ferienkurse Darmstadt (Germany), and Musicarama(Hong Kong).

Chan is a winner of the CASH Golden Sail Award, First Prize of the Robert Avalon International Competition for Composers, Keuris Composition Prize, the Emissary Quartet Composition Competition, Dolce Suono Ensemble Composition Competition, the Orchestra Seattle and Seattle Chamber Singers Competition, the Vocal Espoo Choral Composition Competition, Association for the Promotion of New Music Composition Competition, the Audience Prize of the Hong Kong Composer's Showcase organized by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra,  Speech Choir Young Composer Award, CASH Music Scholarships, among other honors.
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As a Benjamin Franklin Fellow, Chan earned his PhD in Music Composition from the University of Pennsylvania, where he worked with Jay Reise, James Primosch, and Anna Weesner. He currently serves as Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he obtained his Master of Music (under the supervision of Victor Chan) and Bachelor of Arts in Translation with first class honours.  He is a two-time recipient of the Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award and has received teaching grants to develop online videos and games for tonal and post-tonal harmony pedagogy. Through commissions and grants from the Research Grants Council, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society, Composers and Authors Society of Hong Kong, and other organisations, he has explored how text-setting constraints in Cantonese can be transformed into creativity in contemporary music. 

陳啟揚於美國賓夕法尼亞大學完成作曲博士學位，由富蘭克林研究學人獎學金全額資助，並先後於香港中文大學取得一級翻譯榮譽文學士及作曲音樂碩士，師隨陳偉光教授。現為香港中文大學音樂系作曲助理教授，曾兩度獲得文學院傑出教學獎，並屢獲教研資助創作樂理與和聲教學的教學影片與網上遊戲。其學術研究獲教資會研資局基金資助，專注於探索當代音樂如何把粵語創作的制約化成音樂創意。

​陳啟揚的作品曾獲美國匹茲堡交響樂團、奧爾巴尼交響樂團、西雅圖樂團、寇蒂斯音樂學院樂團、坦帕灣交響樂團、Daedalus弦樂四重奏、Mivos弦樂四重奏、Mise-en樂團、俄羅斯Cantando四重奏、德國國際現代合奏音樂學院、香港管弦樂團、香港小交響樂團等樂團演奏，並先後入選國際現代音樂節2012 (比利時)、華人作曲家音樂節2013(香港)、Risuonanze 音樂節 (意大利)、國際作曲家交流會議2014(芬蘭)、2015國際新音樂論壇（墨西哥）、國際現代音樂節2015 (斯洛文尼亞)、2015夏灣拿現代音樂節(古巴)、2016埃斯波聲樂節(芬蘭)、2016 soundSCAPE（意大利）、2017中國東盟音樂節（中國）、2017 華倫西亞音樂節（西班牙）、2018水牛城六月音樂節（美國）、2018西北室內音樂節（美國）等國際音樂節。其樂譜出版商包括Edition Peters、Edition ICOT、香港兒童合唱團等，作品錄音則由Innova、Ablaze、New Focus Records等唱片公司全球發行。

陳啟揚曾獲CASH金帆音樂獎(2023)、美國雅華倫國際作曲比賽首獎(2020)、荷蘭克瑞斯國際作曲比賽首獎(2018)、美國艾美薩利長笛四重奏國際作曲比賽首獎(2017)、香港管弦樂團作曲家巡禮之聽眾大獎(2017)、芬蘭埃斯波聲樂節作曲獎(2016)、香港作曲及作詞家協會獎學金(2012)等殊榮。