Lydia Yu

Lydia Yu, born in Taiwan, began her piano studies with her mother at the age of six. Her formal musical studies began in Taipei, where she also studied viola as a secondary instrument. In 2017, she had the opportunity to move to the United States to attend the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver as a full scholarship recipient, where she graduated with the honor of the election to Pi Kappa Lambda national music honor society. She received her Master’s degree double majoring in Piano Performance and Collaborative Piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Her principal teachers include Kathryn Brown, Anita Pontremoli, and Stephanie Shih-Yu Cheng. In Fall 2024, Yu will be pursuing her doctoral degree in Collaborative Piano at the Jacobs School of Music, studying with Professor Anne Epperson.

Yu has won numerous awards in competitions, including the Memphis International Piano Competition, the Taipei Asia Pacific Music Competition, the Stein Bach Music Competition, the Baroque Music Competition, the Excellence Music Open Competition of Taiwan, and the MTNA Young Artist Performance Competition in Colorado. She was the youngest participant in the 13th Taipei Youth Chopin Competition and was awarded the 3rd prize. She has attended many festivals, such as the Mozarteum International Summer Academy, the Lamont Summer Academy on a full scholarship, the Orford Summer Academy, and the Gijón Internationals Piano Festival. She performed the Grieg Piano Concerto with the Lamont Summer Academy Orchestra, as the winner of the Concerto/Aria Competition. Lydia has performed in masterclasses for world-known pianists including Anton Nel, Antonio Pompa-Baldi, Julian Martin, Rebecca Penneys, Igor Levit, Julio Elizalde, Jean Saulnier, Christopher O’Riley, Caio Pagano, among others.

As a collaborative pianist, Yu has played in the lessons for the members in the world-renowned Cleveland Orchestra, including Afendi Yusuf, Lynne Ramsey, Wesley Collins, Jessica Lee, and Stephen Rose. Besides duo, she also participated in the Advanced Piano Trio Program at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Yu won the Second Prize of 28th Annual Darius Milhaud Performance Prize Concert in 2022. In the same year, she was the recipient of the Cleveland Heights Alumni chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon Rosa Lobe Award, which recognizes the highest level of artistic achievement in the collaborative piano department.