Liliya Ugay (b. 1990; Tashkent, Uzbekistan) is a composer and pianist whose work focuses on exploration of immigrant experience, female physicality, and motherhood, often through storytelling and drawing inspiration from material tools, such as folk instruments and children's toys, capturing "curiosity, awkwardness, and wonder to play" (Tyler Klyne from Modern Notebook). Her music has been described as "evocative" (The Washington Post), "assertive, steely... [then] lovely and supple writing" (The Wall Street Journal), "fluid and theatrical, with lancing atonal gestures brushing up against folk-sounding materials... creative decisions all serve clear, expressive purposes — the music makes its case with immediacy" (The Art Fuse), as well as “vivid, yet ultimately enigmatic” (South Florida Classical Review); praised as "exquisite and heartwarming" (Navona) music that "tugs at our heart strings" (OperaGene), and her orchestration skills labeled as "strong" (DC Theatre Scene) and "with range of colors and textures [that] is really striking" (Boston Classical Radio). 

Liliya was commissioned and performed by Yale Philharmonia, Nashville and Albany Symphonies, American Composers Orchestra, New England Philharmonic, Raleigh Civic Symphony, The Next Festival of Emerging Artists; ensembles such as Aspen Contemporary Music Ensemble, icarus Quartet, Victory Players, Unheard-Of//Ensemble, Music from Copland House, Molinari Quartet, Ensemble Flageolet, ensemble vim, Antico Moderno, Omnibus, Convergence, and many others. Her works were also performed by such soloists as Paul Neubauer, Andrea Lam, Noël Wan, Sunmi Chang, Clara Yang, Melvin Chen, Robert Fleitz, Min Kwon; conductors David Alan Miller, Giancarlo Guerrero, Simon Carrington, Peter Askim, Paul Hostetter, Tian Ng Hui, and George Manahan. Among the festivals that featured her compositions are Aspen, Norfolk, Chelsea, Darmstadt, New York Electroacoustic, American Composers Festival, MIFA, Boston New Music Initiative, Convergence, and Venice Biennale. Most recently she has worked with activist opera company White Snake Projects on the virtual opera "Fractured Mosaics" uncovering the experiences of Asian-Americans and series "Let's Celebrate" creating an opera about Nowruz (Persian New Year), as well as completing commissions for Borealis Wind Quintet and Redlands Symphony. Her operatic collaborations also include Washington National Opera and American Lyric Theater, for which she was a commissioned composer-in-residence. For the librettos to her operas Ugay has especially enjoyed working with Khmer poet-scholar Sokunthary Svay and Philhadelphia author and social activist Lorene Cary. Her works have been performed at the John Kennedy Center Terrace Theatre, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Merkin Hall, Steinway Hall New York, Pablo Casals Symphony Hall, and in many countries across the globe. Recordings of Liliya’s music were featured and produced by NPR, New England Public Media, Parma/Navona, and many classical music stations such as WGBH, PBS, WSMR.

Ugay was a recipient of the awards from American Academy of Arts and Letters (2016), ASCAP Morton Gould (2019), International Alliance of Women in Music (2024), and grants from Opera America (2021) and National Endowment of the Arts (2020). She was also a finalist for the Rome Prize (2019), and Paul & Daisy Soros fellowship (2014). She won prizes at a number of composition competitions including New England Philharmonic Call for scores (2016), MTNA Young Artist national winner (2011), Quatuor Molinari (2016 & 2024) Oslo Grieg International Competition (2016), Crystal Camerton international competition held by Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory (2005), etc.

Since 2021 Ugay adjudicates International Luigi Nono Composition Prize (Italy) and FSU International New Music Festival Call for Scores. In the past served on jury for the CULTIVATE program for Copland House, Sing Out Strong (White Snake Projects), MTNA competitions, Florida Division of Arts and Culture grants, FSU Rockwood competition for doctoral pianists, and FSU concerto competitions.

Originally from Uzbekistan (a former part of Soviet Union in Central Asia), Liliya is carrying Korean and Tatar ethnic heritage while being a native Russian speaker. She received rigorous training as a pianist and composer graduating from the Uspensky special music school for gifted children (2009) studying piano with Guzal Ardashirova and Tamara Borisova, and composition with Polina Medyulyanova and Felix Yanov-Yanovsky. As a young composer she yearly participated in composition workshop Omnibus Laboratorium (2006-2010) held by Omnibus Ensemble, which she later also joined as a pianist. She moved to the United States upon receiving a prestigious Woodruff Award to study piano under tutelage of Alexander Kobrin and composition with Fred Cohen at Columbus State University ('14BM).

Liliya graduated from Yale University ('16MM; '22DMA), receiving mentorship from Aaron Kernis, Martin Bresnick, Christopher Theofanidis, Han Lash, and David Lang. At Yale she was a recipient of a school-wide Horatio Parker Memorial Prize (2017), as well as two Frances Kellogg composition awards (2016, 2018), and Yale School of Music Alumni prize (2018). Despite being a composition major at Yale, as a pianist Liliya was receiving mentorship from Boris Berman. Liliya received prizes at several piano competitions, and of a particular importance for her was international competition Verfemte Musik (Ostracized Music; 2008) in Germany, as a prizewinner of which she toured Germany, Austria, Poland, and Czech Republic performing music by composers oppressed by Nazis. Since 2016 Liliya is an artistic director of Silenced Voices, a concert series that promotes music of politically oppressed composers from Soviet Era.

Since 2019 Liliya has been serving on composition faculty at Florida State University, where she has founded and been directing FSU ensemble of new music Polymorphia. Between 2019-2024 Polymorphia presented 17 programs, featuring over 100 works of contemporary composers, including the winners of FSU Polymorphia Call for Scores and special recitals such as Music of Korean Women Composers. Polymorphia is a crucial part of FSU International Biennial Festival of New Music.