Multi-Award-Winning Composer, Pianist and Producer Yu-Peng Chen Signs with Deutsche Grammophon
Revered by millions of gaming fans as “Archon” (“master”), and with over 1.5 billion audio
streams to his name, Yu-Peng Chen becomes the first ever Chinese composer to join DG
His seminal album Fantasyland will be reissued in a special DG deluxe edition,
set for global release on 7 November 2025
Berlin, 18 July 2025. Deutsche Grammophon announces that the multi-award-winning composer, crossover pianist and producer Yu-Peng Chen has signed to the Yellow Label. Classically trained, he becomes the first Chinese composer to sign an exclusive agreement with DG. Chen is known for the richly melodic and stylistically multifaceted music he has written for a number of film and game soundtracks, and earned global fame as the musical mastermind behind the open-world role-playing game Genshin Impact. His compositional versatility has been recognised with accolades including, among others, his win in the Outstanding Artist – Newcomer/Breakthrough category at the 2020 Annual Game Music Awards and his nomination for the SABAM Award for Best Original Composition by a Young Composer at the 2019 World Soundtrack Awards.
Yu-Peng will launch his DG career on 7 November 2025 with the release of an extended edition of his album Fantasyland, recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Robert Ziegler and issued digitally only in July 2024. DG’s future plans include an album featuring a brand-new orchestral work, scheduled for 2026, as well as recordings of solo piano pieces.
“I’m honoured to have signed with Deutsche Grammophon,” says Yu-Peng Chen. “It’s very exciting to have the team’s support as I take the next step in my classical music journey. I can’t wait to share my visions with new audiences around the world as well as with the many listeners who have supported me so loyally over the years. For me, there are no boundaries in music, and I want to keep exploring and experimenting, bringing together western orchestral sounds with instrumental colours from the Chinese tradition and beyond.”
“The Yellow Label has significantly increased its visibility in the Chinese market over the last few years, and has fostered Chinese talent, with the label’s anniversary gala at the Forbidden City in 2019 and, most recently, the announcement of DG China – a joint initiative with Universal Music China,” notes Dr Clemens Trautmann, President Deutsche Grammophon and New Business Strategy Global Classics. “We’re proud that Yu-Peng Chen is the first Chinese composer to work exclusively with DG, and look forward to a fruitful relationship in the years ahead.”
“I first heard Yu-Peng Chen’s music at a gaming event,” says Kleopatra Sofroniou, DG General Manager Classics. “I thought its beautiful melodies, imaginative instrumentation and skilful blending of western and world music traditions were simply magical.”
Yu-Peng Chen was born in China’s Hunan province in 1984. His key influences include Joe Hisaishi, John Williams and Rachmaninoff. Trained at the Shenzhen Arts School and Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where he studied composition and later graduated in Music Design and Production, Chen developed a very personal style which combines traditional instruments and a wide range of musical elements from eastern cultures with western harmonies and orchestral writing.
After his studies, Chen established a successful career writing soundtracks for TV, film and video games. He became globally famous for the music he composed and produced for Genshin Impact at HOYO-MiX, the in-house studio of game developer miHoYo. Genshin Impact albums and concerts have proved hugely popular, with one live concert recording being streamed six million times within three days of its release.
Chen’s 2024 album Fantasyland represents a turning point in his career. He wrote it after leaving HOYO-MiX, to mark his 40th birthday and “to summarise and review my creative journey… as well as to bid farewell to the past and welcome the upcoming new chapter of my life”.
The album takes the form of a symphonic suite, whose colourful soundworld features virtuosic roles for piano (played by Chen) as well as for a variety of instruments from around the globe, including accordions, Indian bansuri and sitar, Japanese koto and shakuhachi, and an array of Chinese instruments – erhu, pipa and dizi, among others – all of which are played by outstanding performers. DG’s forthcoming deluxe edition includes four bonus tracks and a booklet with notes by the composer.
