Born in Hong Kong, Dr. Adilia Yip is a marimbist/percussionist and artistic researcher based in Antwerp, Belgium. She is the main investigator for project “ReSoXy—Re-Sounding the Xylophone Collection from the Royal Museum for Central Africa, Tervuren”, jointly funded by BELSPO - Belgian Science Policy Office and Royal Conservatoire Antwerp (2023-26). While exploring the intersection between traditional music, technology and co-creation, she is currently a lecturer of African music and world music at the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp.

In 2018, Adilia has obtained the Doctoral in arts degree (PhD) with artistic research project “Inventing New Marimba Performance from the West African Balafon Practiceat the University of Antwerp and the Royal Conservatoire Antwerp. She is a docARTES alumnus and a reviewer of the Orpheus Institute, Ghent. Her passion in exploring the embodied performance practice of the West African balafon have led to exciting collaborations that cross the genres of classical, contemporary, world and popular music. In collaboration with Youssouf Keita, a prominent balafon performer, teacher, builder and griot, Adilia has formed project Wolo:Birth (2023) to converge balafon, marimba, synthesizer and drums, In the Heat of the Moment—contemporary marimba compositions inspired by the balafon (2016), and the traditional balafon and marimba duo Balafon Meets Marimba (2012). Looking into the future of technology, Adilia and Yousouf will continue to collaborate on “PercAI: A Generative AI Model for the West African Balafon” for the development of an AI model to enhance the analysis and creativity of the balafon tradition of the Bobo and Bamana peoples (2025-26).

To support the development of music research, she organizes the annual ARIA seminar series Method/Art since 2019, and the steering committee of ICTMD Belgium (International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance). Her publications and presentations have appeared on various platforms dedicated to music, artistic research, ethnomusicology and curatorship, including Studia Instrumentorum Musicae Popularis, Music + Practice, Glissando, Garland, Resonancias, FORUM+, and [Re]Making Collections: Origins and Trajectories, etc. While being a frequent participant of international conferences and symposia, she has been invited to discuss her research in guest lectures to inspire students of higher education.

And I always enjoy seeing sunlight play on the rocks, the water, the trees and plains. What variety of effects, what brilliance and what softness… I wish my music could show as much diversity.
— Gabriel Fauré

As a classical musician, she has formed chamber music group Duo Antwerp with bass clarinetist Daniel Bellovi since 2011, which the group has been exploring the sound of the unique instrument combination, and commissioned, arranged and performed over 30 compositions dedicated to the group.

As the co-founder of The Bracket Percussion, she has organized different multidisciplinary and participatory percussion projects to promote percussion and world cultures, such as, Klinken Percussie Festival (2021, 2022, 2023), Voice Your Diversity—community choir, international singers and band (2019-22), contemporary compositions for marimba and erhu (2017); ONNA project (2018) with Japanese taiko drummers; Motzu (2014-16) Mexican marimba ensemble; Vlinders (2012-15) a puppet percussion-theater based on the Chinese romance The Butterfly Lovers, among others. She has performed these projects at various international festivals and concert venues, such as, The Festival de Musica de Canarias, Radio Klara, Belgian Music Days, Concertgebouw Bruges, Muziekpublique Brussel, Percussive Arts Society International Convention (PASIC), Klankhaven Antwerp, aNOther Festival Vienna, Sfinks Mixed Festival, TEDx, Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Europe), and Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Kingdom of Belgium.