Hanna Yu is a Korean-born violinist who maintains an active performing career in New York and New Jersey area.
Yu relocated to New York shortly after the completion of her Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Violin Performance and Literature from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). During her doctoral study, Yu served as a member of The Graduate String Quartet at UIUC under the guidance of Pacifica String Quartet and worked as a teaching assistant for the quartet. She also collaborated with the Pacifica Quartet in 2006, performing Mendelssohn Octet Op. 20 at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Dr. Yu taught string chamber music at UIUC and frequently presented as a faculty member, a guest artist or a lecturer on various occasions such as the Allerton String Chamber Symposium, the Midwest Victorian Symposium, Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award, and the University of Illinois Collegiate Chapter of the Music Teacher’s National Association. Yu studied music theory as her minor and completed additional studies of viola performance and Baroque violin performance. For her doctoral thesis, titled, Korean-Euro Dualism and Selected String Compositions by Hyo-Shin Na, her particular interest focused on the dualistic nature of Western-European concert music that had been initiated from two cultures, Korean and Western-European, at the same time. Since, Dr. Yu has been expanding her interest on the contemporary compositions and continually working towards this particular subject, Korean-Euro Dualism.
Yu earned her Bachelor’s degree at ChungNam National University in South Korea, as a University Fellowship student for four years. She continued her study, earning a Master of Music degree at De Paul University in Chicago where she was chosen for Music Award Scholarship for two years. During her Master’s, Yu was also granted a full fellowship to participate in the Colorado College Music Festival.
Dr. Yu studied and collaborated with recognized musicians and artists including The Chicago String Quartet, The Kronos Quartet, Martha Graham Dance Company, The Pacifica String Quartet, and The Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra. She has appeared on various stages in the United States, South Korea and China as a soloist, an orchestra player and a chamber musician.
Since Yu moved to New York in 2008, she was invited to perform for The Korean Cultural Festival at The Kimmel Center of New York University. In 2009, Yu gave the world premiere of Sonata for Marimba and Violin by Mark Janello at Music on MacDougal Series at Player’s Theatre and gave another Marimba Violin Duo Performance at New York University. During 2009, her Violin Piano Duo Recital was presented by the 2008-2009 Performance Series of Yamaha Artist Services, Inc.. At the recital, she premiered Journey I by Youngmi Ha. Dr. Yu’s upcoming recital will be presented by Yamaha Artist Services, Inc. again for their 2009-2010 season. Yu additionally appeared as a guest concertmaster for New Jersey City University Orchestra and have been performing with various other groups including Chelsea Opera, Opera Manhattan, New Jersey Association of Varismo Opera, New Rochelle Opera, and Pacific Encore Performances. Dr. Yu is also a faculty member of Monmouth Conservatory of Music.