Elaine Tai is a Taiwanese American composer. She holds Certificates in Composition and Core Musical Skills from The Juilliard School’s Extension Division, along with a B.S. and M.S. from Columbia University. Her musical education includes participation in the Atlantic Music Festival for composition, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra Academy, and Meadowmount School of Music for violin performance. She has studied composition under Conrad Cummings and Dalit Warshaw, and orchestral conducting with Mark Shapiro.

Born in Taiwan, Elaine’s interest in music emerged at an early age. She began piano at three, violin at five, and joined her first orchestra by eight. When her family emigrated to New York during her junior high years, she quickly adapted, mastering a third language and graduating as salutatorian six years later. As a high school senior, she also had the honor of performing at Carnegie Hall as part of the All-Eastern Orchestra.

After studying engineering in college, Elaine cultivated a decade-long career in consulting, advising prominent private and public clients, and gaining experience at both start-ups and major tech companies. During her corporate career, she traveled to South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria to provide pro-bono advisory services and spoke at international conferences on economic development. At home, she served on a Community Board and delved into homelessness and affordability issues.

In 2019, Elaine embarked on her composition journey at The Juilliard Extension and has been pursuing it ever since. It is through an expansive life experience and a lens of curiosity and connectedness that draws her to themes such as breast cancer and sexual abuse in her compositions. She believes that music is one of the greatest forms of expression and that it is never too late to pursue new passions. When Elaine’s not studying scores or composing, she enjoys learning new languages, exploring different instruments, and figure skating.