Violist

Born in 1997 in Shenzhen, China, Yue Yu moved abroad at the age of 18. Since then, she has lived in the UK, Austria, and Germany, while travelling extensively for concerts and festivals. Chamber music is her greatest passion, and she has collaborated with renowned musicians including Steven Isserlis, Steven Doane, Clive Greensmith, Pavel Gililov, Thomas Riebl, and Timothy Ridout, as well as ensembles such as the London Bridge Piano Trio, the Amatis Piano Trio, the Primrose Piano Quartet, and the Berolina Ensemble. Throughout her artistically formative years, Yue was invited to many festivals such as the Ravinia Festival (USA), IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music (UK), the International Mendelssohn Festival (Germany), the Schiermonnikoog Festival (Netherlands), the Vivacissimo Festival (Italy), and the Stellenbosch (South Africa), Wye Valley (UK), and Ulverston (UK) International Chamber Music Festivals.

Internationally, Yue has been recognised for her passion and artistry. In 2022, she was named one of Classic FM’s ‘30 under 30’ Rising Stars. She won first prize at the Salzburg Paul Hindemith Viola Concorso in 2021 and the Stockport International Young Musicians Competition in 2019. She was also a selected competitor at the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition in 2019 and the Tokyo International Viola Competition in both 2022 and 2025, reaching the second round on each occasion. As a finalist in the 2017 Cecil Aronowitz International Viola Competition, she received the Bishop Instruments and Bows Prize, awarded for her exceptional performance of York Bowen’s Viola Sonata in C minor during the semi-final round. The prize included a £5,000 silver-mounted P. Guillaume viola bow.

In 2019, she recorded her debut album with pianist Anthony Hewitt and violinist Jeffrey Armstrong for Naxos, featuring works by Britten, Imogen Holst, and Bowen. Released in 2022, the recording garnered international acclaim. Gramophone and Fanfare both praised the album as being on par with the Bowen recording by internationally renowned violist Lawrence Power and pianist Simon Crawford-Phillips.

During her undergraduate studies at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, where she was awarded a full scholarship, Yue received numerous accolades. In 2017, she was nominated by the conservatoire as the sole annual recipient of the Silver Medal from the Worshipful Company of Musicians in London, and in 2019, she received the Principal Prize for her outstanding contributions to the conservatoire. Later in the same year, she moved to Austria to study at the Universität Mozarteum Salzburg for her master’s degree with Prof. Thomas Riebl, followed by postgraduate studies with him until January 2024.

From 2023 to 2025, she was an academist with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin (RSB). In the autumn of 2025, she will begin playing as the 1. Solo Viola with the Magdeburgische Philharmonie orchestra for the 2025/26 season. She currently performs on a viola made by Enrico Ceruti in 1865, generously loaned to her by the Hepner Foundation.

A scholar at the International Academy of Music in Liechtenstein, she was frequently invited to perform in chamber concerts across the country and she has been playing with the Vaduz-based Ensemble Esperanza since 2021. In 2022, Yue became a frequent guest with the Salzburg Camerata, performing in Salzburg and on tour. Her musical path has led her across Europe, with appearances in venues such as Birmingham Town Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, Salzburg Solitär Saal, the Vienna Konzerthaus, the Berlin Philharmonie, and Konzerthaus. 

Updated: July 2025