Carol Yu

Biography

‘excellent, positive work at the piano’ The Times, United Kingdom

'an artist whose manner of playing is notable for its professionalism, good taste and a sense of style’

Viktor Merzhanov, Professor at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory

‘Yu’s interpretation was exquisite. She exuded complete serenity from the moment she stepped on stage. Every note was played with feeling and understanding’ New Straits Times, Malaysia

Carol Yu is highly praised for her exquisite tone and versatile technique, her playing embodies poetry, lyricism and intensity. She studied in her early years with Hamish Milne and Philip Fowke. Her artistic style was further influenced by the Russian piano school, studying with several renowned Russian masters Viktor Merzhanov, Irina Zaritskaya and Andrzej Esterhazy. She attended masterclasses by Kendall Taylor, Stephen Bishop-Kovacevich and Bernard Roberts, and studied chamber music with Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lynn Harrell and the Amadeus Quartet.

Carol Yu was first prizewinner in the Oxford Music Competition and Kingsclere Piano Competition. She won prestigious scholarships from the Countess of Munster Musical Trust and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Music & Dance Fund to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London, graduating with the Bachelor and Master Degrees in first class honours. She further obtained the Künstlerische Ausbildung in Performance from the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik, Trossingen (Germany).

She has performed in major concert halls in London (Southbank Centre and Barbican Centre), Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Japan, China, Malaysia and Brunei. Among her numerous concerts abroad, Ms. Yu has performed for the House of Lords in London, the Beethoven Piano Society of Europe, the Chopin Society (London), the London Messiaen Festival and the International Piano Festival in Kuala Lumpur. She performed in Shanghai for the 10th Anniversary of Hong Kong SAR Reunification, and was Artistic Director to a concert involving 15 pianists performing together on stage. Her forthcoming concerts include recitals in Cambridge, Vienna, Salzburg and Innsbruck.

She has collaborated with many instrumentalists including the Meridian Ensemble (UK) and the Fiorini Trio, and given concerto peformances with Malaysia National Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong and Hong Kong Chamber Orchestra, with conductor Li Xin-cao. Her solo album of Chopin and Beethoven piano works was released on URM Audio (UK), and live recording was made for Moscow Radio.

A keen educator, Carol Yu is on the Piano Faculty of Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University and Hong Kong Institute of Education, given lectures and masterclasses in Japan, Malaysia, China and Hong Kong. Adjudicator for Steinway & Sons International Youth Piano Competition, Hong Kong Young Musician of the Year and Hong Kong (Asia) Piano Open Competition, and examiner for the Australian and New Zealand Cultural Arts (ANZCA) diploma music examinations. She presented papers on Music Performance and Music Psychology at 27th World Conference of the International Society of Music Education and 6th Asia Pacific Symposium on Music Education Research.