Born to Chinese immigrants in Pittsburgh and raised in the Pacific Northwest, Byron Au Yong composes music attuned to migration, nature, sustainability, and the American Dream. Current projects include 9 Lifeboats about climate displacement and Activist Songbook to counteract hate and energize movements.

Highlights include (Be)longing, a music theater forum about coming of age in an age of guns, directed by Charlotte Brathwaite and Stuck Elevator, a musical about a delivery man trapped in a Bronx elevator, directed by Chay Yew. He has created music for Madame Ho and Chan Family Picnic with playwright Eugenie Chan, Port City with playwright Christopher Chen, The Orphan of Zhao, directed by Carey Perloff at American Conservatory Theater and La Jolla Playhouse, and The War of the Roses, directed by Eric Ting at Cal Shakes.

Honors include a Creative Capital Award and Time Warner Foundation Fellowship. Au Yong teaches in Performing Arts and Social Justice at the University of San Francisco.