Carol Yu

Steinway Artist & Steinway Spirio Recording Artist Carol Yu is acclaimed by the Times UK for her 'excellent, positive work at the piano', and praised by Viktor Merzhanov, Piano Professor at Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory as 'an artist whose playing is notable for its good taste and sense of style'. Her engaging performances have been capturing audiences worldwide. Carol has concertised internationally in London (Southbank Centre and Barbican Centre), New York (Carnegie Hall), Austria, Germany, Russia, Czech Republic, Japan, China and SE Asia, and has been featured in prestigious festivals including London Park Lane Group Series, London Messiaen Festival, International Chopin Festival in Austria and International Piano Festival in Kuala Lumpur.

Carol has performed for the House of Lords in London and the Chopin Society in Vienna, and was appointed Artistic Director and Principal Pianist of Hong Kong SAR 10th Anniversary celebration concert in Shanghai. She is recently featured in the HK SAR 25th Anniversary "M3 Exhibition" (Hangzhou-Beijing-New York-Hong Kong). She has performed for Christie's "Christie's Lates" London-New York-Hong Kong Event at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. She has collaborated with renowned conductors Li Xin-cao and Yip Wing-sie, and with Hong Kong Sinfonietta, City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, Hong Kong City Philharmonia and Malaysia National Symphony Orchestra.

As a chamber musician, she has performed with distinguished musicians including violinist Jing Wang, James Cuddeford, Jeremy Williams and Jue Yao, cellists Richard Bamping and Artem Konstantinov amongst others. Her numerous recordings received critical acclaim internationally, including her solo album of Chopin and Beethoven piano works released by URM Audio (UK), recording for Moscow Radio, as well as a DVD series by Brio Music.

Carol is lauded as "5th Generation Chopin Lineage" and "5th Generation Liszt Lineage", having inherited an impressive tradition from her renowned piano teachers Viktor Merzhanov, Irina Zaritskaya and Andrzej Esterhazy. She studied chamber music with acclaimed instrumentalists Anne-Sophie Mutter, Lynn Harrell and the Amadeus Quartet. A scholarship recipient of Hong Kong Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund, Carol obtained the Bachelor and Master degrees with First Class Honours from Royal Academy of Music London, and Master of Arts from Musikhochschule Trossingen Germany.

In recognition of her outstanding achievements, Carol was awarded the prestigious appointment Honorary Artist-in-Residence of The Education University of Hong Kong by the President of the University since 2021. Carol has garnered numerous awards and commendations in Countess of Munster Musical Trust, Tunbridge Wells International Young Concert Artists Competition, Oxford Music Festival Competition and Whyte Memorial Fund Award.

Carol is Founder and Artistic Director of PREMIA International Young Artists Music Festival and has brought 50 young talents to perform at Carnegie Hall New York. She is Chairperson of Hong Kong Jockey Club Music & Dance Fund Awardees Association from 2018-2022 and Artistic Director of Concordia Music International, and dedicates her efforts to the development of Music in Hong Kong.

Carol was invited to be Juror in major competitions including Steinway & Sons International Youth Piano Competition Hong Kong Macau Region, 3rd Steinway Youth Piano Competition "Asia Pacific Regional Finals", Hong Kong Asia Piano Open Competition and Chopin Memorial Prizes International Open Competition.

Carol is committed to engaging her musical gifts for charitable causes, and has given benefit concerts for charities both in Hong Kong and abroad, including UNICEF, Habitat for Humanity, Hear Talk Foundation and Sabah Thalassaemia Society, serving the needy in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Central Africa, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

Source: Concordia Music International