Yu Lina Lina Yu

The accomplished Chinese violinist Lina Yu gained instant acclaim when, at the age of 18, she premiered the ‘Butterfly Lovers’ Violin Concerto. Since then she has recorded this concerto many times with orchestras such as the BBC Concert Orchestra, the Russian Philharmonic, and the Shanghai Symphony.

Since her first rise to attention, Lina Yu has been sought out to premiere many work by various composers and has won numerous awards for her outstanding performances. Led by her, the earliest Chinese string quartet participated and won a prize at Berlin’s 2nd Schumann International Competition in 1960. She appears frequently in recitals and as soloist with orchestras in the United States, Canada, Russia, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Australia, and China.

In 1962 Lina Yu was appointed to the faculty of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music where she is currently chairwoman of the Violin and Viola Department and professor of violin. Many of her students are top prize winners at the Paganini, Menuhin, Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Sendai, Lipizer, and Sibelius International Violin Competitions.Professor Yu has made frequent guest appearances at major television and radio stations throughout the world. She starred in several documentary films, including ‘Passion for Life, Yu Lina’, a three-hour documentary film about her life made in 2001.

Professor Yu regularly teaches master classes throughout United States, Canada, Israel, Australia, Japan, and China. Professor Yu has served on the jury panel of many prestigious international violin competitions, including the 1998 and 2007 Tchaikovsky International Violin Competition in Moscow, Russia; the 2006 Wieniawski International Violin Competition in Poznań, Poland, the 2012 Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition, Hannover, Germany, as well as many international competitions in Germany, Italy, Austria, Denmark, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, and her native China.

Professor Yu founded the Yu Lina Violin Foundation in 1993, in order to promote talented young violinists.