ZENAN YU

Zenan Yu is one of China’s foremost pianists in his generation, praised for his virtuosity and deeply expressive approach to music. He has been lauded as a pianist who “had power and drama running through his veins" (International Piano Magzine.) Yu is also a passionate music educator. He is the co-founder of 新择课堂, an online educational platform with a wide range of piano courses, which is loved by piano teachers and students. Yu has been followed by many music lovers on the audio platform Ximalaya and generated more than 4.5 million streams in 2020.

In China, Zenan Yu made his solo debut at age 15 in performing the complete Rachmaninoff preludes in Beijing and has since gone on to give recitals in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Xiamen, Tsingtao, Ningbo, and Hong Kong. He also performed with the China Philharmonic Orchestra, the Central Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, and the Beijing Youth Symphony Orchestra. Later, Yu gave his first concert tour in the United States, performing in New York City, New Haven, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia and Los Angeles. In 2012, Zenan Yu won the Raeburn Prize for Artist of Special Promise at the Honens International Piano Competition in Calgary. Since then, he has performed concerts in Europe, the United States, and Asia.

With his vast spectrum of repertoire, Yu enjoys curating innovative recital programs for his audience—from Messiaen, Schoenberg to Toru Takamitsu and Isang Yun. Yu has collaborated with the Beijing Modern Music Festival and premiered many works by young Chinese composers. In France, he performed a series of works by French composers Pascal Dusapin and Éric Tanguy. His insightful interpretation was praised by the critics as “virtuosic,” ”brilliant” and ”breathtaking.”

Zenan Yu studied with the distinguished artist-in-residence Russell Sherman at the New England Conservatory as the recipient of the Dorothy Hinton Congleton Memorial Presidential Scholarship. Prior to that, he studied with Guangren Zhou and Elian Chen at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Yu has also participated in master classes with Alfred Brendel.