UMKC Music Professor Is 2019 Inductee Into Prestigious National Arts Academy

Luminaries such as Langston Hughes, John Singer Sargent and Frank Lloyd Wright have all been members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In May, when the Academy inducts 11 new members, one of them will be from Kansas City: Chen Yi, professor of Composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City's Conservatory of Music and Dance.

"Such an honor and encouragement!" Chen wrote on her Facebook page after hearing the news on Tuesday. Chen, a native of China, has taught at the Conservatory since 1998 and combines Chinese and Western traditions in her work.