# Avan Yu

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{{Short description|Canadian pianist (born 1987)}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2021}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=February 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2022}}
'''Avan Yu''' (born 19 July 1987) is a Hong Kong-born Canadian [concert pianist](/source/Pianist). He is the winner of the 12th [Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia](/source/Sydney_International_Piano_Competition) as well as the silver medalist of the XVI [Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition](/source/Paloma_O'Shea_International_Piano_Competition). He has performed extensively throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia and at venues such as the Weill Recital Hall in [Carnegie Hall](/source/Carnegie_Hall), [Concertgebouw](/source/Concertgebouw%2C_Amsterdam) in Amsterdam, the [Berliner Philharmonie](/source/Berliner_Philharmonie), the Salle Cortot in Paris, and the [Sydney Opera House](/source/Sydney_Opera_House).<ref>{{Cite news|date=13 May 2017|title=Taking nothing for granted|page=13|work=the Leader Post}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=29 October 2007|title=Young Pianist shined with VSO|page=41|work=Vancouver Sun}}</ref>

== Education ==
Avan Yu started learning piano at the age of five in [Hong Kong](/source/Hong_Kong). He studied privately with Kut Kau Sum, Kenneth Broadway and Ralph Markham in [Vancouver](/source/Vancouver), [British Columbia](/source/British_Columbia), Canada. In 2007, Yu moved to [Berlin](/source/Berlin), Germany, to study with [Klaus Hellwig](/source/Klaus_Hellwig) at the [Berlin University of the Arts](/source/Berlin_University_of_the_Arts). After graduating in [Berlin](/source/Berlin), he relocated to New York to pursue a [Doctorate of Musical Arts](/source/Doctorate_of_Musical_Arts) degree at the [Manhattan School of Music](/source/Manhattan_School_of_Music) under the tutelage of the great American/Cuban pianist [Horacio Gutierrez](/source/Horacio_Gutierrez).

==Early years==
After immigrating to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1997 with his family, he began participating in local and national competitions. He won his first national piano competition, at the age of thirteen, at the [http://www.cmcnational.com/en/ Canadian Music Competition]. At the age of fourteen, he made his debut with the [Vancouver Symphony Orchestra](/source/Vancouver_Symphony_Orchestra), performing [Sergei Rachmaninoff's](/source/Sergei_Rachmaninoff) [Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini](/source/Rhapsody_on_a_Theme_of_Paganini). He made front-page news of the [Vancouver Sun](/source/The_Vancouver_Sun) that same year, when he won the Junior Division of the [Missouri Southern International Piano Competition](/source/Missouri_Southern_International_Piano_Competition). Six year later, he won the Senior Division of the same competition, and became the only person in the history of that competition to ever do so.

He won the [http://www.canadianchopinsociety.com/piano-competition Canadian Chopin Competition] at the age of seventeen and remains the competition's youngest-ever winner.

== Career ==
{{BLP unsourced section|date=February 2021}}
Yu has performed as soloist with Canadian orchestras such as [National Arts Centre Orchestra](/source/National_Arts_Centre_Orchestra), [Vancouver Symphony Orchestra](/source/Vancouver_Symphony_Orchestra), [Victoria Symphony](/source/Victoria_Symphony), [Regina Symphony Orchestra](/source/Regina_Symphony_Orchestra), [Windsor Symphony Orchestra](/source/Windsor_Symphony_Orchestra), [Kingston Symphony Orchestra](/source/Kingston_Symphony_Orchestra) and [Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra](/source/Thunder_Bay_Symphony_Orchestra). Internationally, he has performed with [Dresden Philharmonic](/source/Dresden_Philharmonic), [Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra](/source/Hong_Kong_Philharmonic_Orchestra), [Sydney Symphony Orchestra](/source/Sydney_Symphony_Orchestra), [Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra](/source/Auckland_Philharmonia_Orchestra), and Tianjin Symphony Orchestra, among others. Musicians and conductors with whom Yu has collaborated include [Pinchas Zukerman](/source/Pinchas_Zukerman), [Yo-Yo Ma](/source/Yo-Yo_Ma), [Rafael Fruehbeck de Burgos](/source/Rafael_Fr%C3%BChbeck_de_Burgos), [Johannes Moser](/source/Johannes_Moser_(cellist)), [Christian Arming](/source/Christian_Arming), [Juanjo Mena](/source/Juanjo_Mena), and [Bramwell Tovey](/source/Bramwell_Tovey).

With his hometown orchestra, the [Vancouver Symphony Orchestra](/source/Vancouver_Symphony_Orchestra), he has appeared as soloist over twenty times, including touring with the orchestra in their first Canadian tour in over thirty years in 2008.

In 2008 he won the second prize at the XVI [Paloma O'Shea Santander International Piano Competition](/source/Paloma_O'Shea_International_Piano_Competition) in Spain. Later on, in 2012, Avan Yu won the 12th [Sydney International Piano Competition of Australia](/source/Sydney_International_Piano_Competition), where he also received nine other special awards: Best Performance of a Beethoven Sonata, Best Performance of a Romantic Concerto, Best Performance of a Mozart Concerto, Best Performance of a Chamber Work, Best Performance of a Romantic Work, Best Performance of a work by Ravel and Best Performance of a sonata by Haydn.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links ==
* [http://www.avanyu.net Avan Yu's Homepage]
* [https://www.facebook.com/avanyu Avan Yu's Facebook Page]
* [https://www.twitter.com/avanyupianist Avan Yu's Twitter]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yu, Avan}}
Category:1987 births
Category:Living people
Category:Canadian classical pianists
Category:Musicians from Vancouver
Category:Prize-winners of the Paloma O'Shea International Piano Competition
Category:21st-century classical pianists
Category:Berlin University of the Arts alumni
Category:21st-century male pianists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Avan Yu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avan_Yu) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avan_Yu?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.