Victor Zheng

Victor Zheng was born in Beijing, China and raised in Portland, Oregon. He holds degrees from Oberlin Conservatory (BM ’16), the University of Massachusetts Amherst (MM ’18), and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (DMA ’23).

Victor explores the intersection between electronic composition and human performance in his work, using algorithmically assisted composition and interactive electronics to power custom designed instruments or featuring as a live companion to acoustic instrumentalists. He has had his music and research featured at events including MOXSonic, Electronic Music Midwest, SEAMUS, NYCEMF, the SCI National Conference, and ICMC, as well as in publications including Art On My Sleeve, Willamette Week, and Oregon Arts Watch.

Victor currently serves on the faculties at North Central College in Naperville, IL and the University of Illinois Springfield in Springfield, IL, teaching composition, music theory, music technology, and music history.

DMA: Music Composition/Theory, cognate in Music Technology | University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (2023)

MM: Music Composition | University of Massachusetts Amherst (2018)

BM: Music Composition | Oberlin Conservatory of Music (2016)

BA: History, minor in East Asian Studies | Oberlin College of Arts and Sciences (2016)

Visiting Assistant Professor of Music, North Central College (Naperville, IL), 2025–present

Adjunct Instructor of Music, University of Illinois Springfield, (Springfield, IL), 2024–present

Adjunct Assistant Professor of Music, North Central College (Naperville, IL), 2023–2025

Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2019–2023

Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2016–2018

Coordinator, Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award, 2020–present

Music Theorist, Digital and Cognitive Musicology Lab, 2021–present

Founder and Full-Stack Engineer, Project Nadia, 2020–present

Operations Manager and Web Manager, James W. Beauchamp Computer Music Project, 2022–2023

Zheng, Victor. “qFlo.” In Mensch und Computer 2025 – Workshopband. Chemnitz: Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.. MCI-WS06: Innovative Computerbasierte Musikinterfaces (ICMI), 2025. https://doi.org/10.18420/muc2025-mci-ws06-209.

Barash, Omer and Victor Zheng. “Martirano Award Spotlight: Omer Barash — The Poetry, Pollination, and Art of Composition.” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Music News. March 21, 2025. https://music.illinois.edu/about-us/news/martirano-award-spotlight-omer-barash-the-poetry-pollination-and-art-of-composition/.

Fisher-Lochhead, Chris and Victor Zheng. “Martirano Award Spotlight: Chris Fisher-Lochhead’s ‘stutter-step the concept.’” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Music News. March 14, 2025. https://music.illinois.edu/about-us/news/martirano-award-spotlight-chris-fisher-lochhead/.

Fawcett, Daniel and Victor Zheng. “Martirano Award Spotlight: Daniel Fawcett’s Unique Sonic Vision.” University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign School of Music News. March 7, 2025. https://music.illinois.edu/about-us/news/martirano-award-spotlight-daniel-fawcetts-unique-sonic-vision/.

Zheng, Victor. “Fork: Composing a Live Soundtrack for Chess.” Paper presented at SuperCollider Symposium, Johns Hopkins University, 13–15 March 2025. https://supercollider-2025.github.io/papers/Zheng.pdf.

Zheng, Victor. “Chess and Music: Quantitative and Artistic Interpretation of Information.” In International Conferences Proceedings 2025: Information Systems and e-Society, 470–474. IADIS Press, 2025.

Zheng, Victor. “The Interpretive-Generative Spectrum and its Role in The Form of Live-Performed Electroacoustic Music.” In Proceedings of the 2024 International Computer Music Conference, 226–229. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Publishing Services, 2024. https://hdl.handle.net/2027/fulcrum.2227ms73r.

Zheng, Victor. “Form and Analysis in Live-Performed Electroacoustic Music.” DMA thesis, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2023.