Guest Harpist Dan Yu

Since winning the First Prize in the 5^th USA International Harp Competition in 2001, Dan Yu’s lyrical interpretations, profound musicality, and technical mastery have captivated and dazzled audiences across three continents. She has performed solo recitals and chamber music concerts throughout the United States, Europe and Asia, and in 2002-2003 season appeared to great acclaim at Alice Tully Hall, New York, and Wigmore Hall, London. The New York Concert Review hailed her as “a unique and major talent capable of bringing the art of harp playing and the way the world views it to an entirely new dimension…..radiating so much joy…it seems she’s already in a class by herself.”

Ms. Yu has also appeared in solo recitals in Paris, Geneva, San Francisco, Seattle, San Jose, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, Naples, Pittsburgh, Denver, Roanoke, San Diego, Las Vegas, and Atlanta among others. In 2004, her Asian tour took her to Tokyo, Kobe, Fukui in Japan, and Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Shenyang in China. As a soloist, she performed in 2004 with the China National Symphony Orchestra at Beijing National Library Concert Hall and Wintergreen Festival Orchestra in Virginia.

Dan Yu’s performances have been broadcast on television and radio stations in the US and China Central TV 4 made a documentary of her performance/interview, which was broadcast worldwide. Her debut CD “The Nightingale” was released on the Egan Records label in July 2002, and her new CD “Spring on the Moonlit River” was released in fall 2005. In addition to performing, she has also given masterclasses throughout the United States and China. In June 2007, Dan Yu served on judge panel for the first Victor Salvi Award at Lyon & Healy, Chicago. She will appear again as judge for the upcoming Young Artist’s Harp Competition in GA in July 2008.

Born in Shenyang, China, Dan Yu began studying piano at the age of 6 and harp at 10 and came to the United States in 1993 to continue her harp studies. She holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and an Artist Diploma from Indiana University. Dan Yu now resides in Atlanta, Ga., where she teaches in her private studio and continues to concertize as a soloist.