NATALIE YU
COLLABORATIVE PIANIST. SOLOIST. TEACHER.
Hailing from Toronto, pianist Natalie Yu has been establishing herself as an active soloist, collaborator, and orchestral pianist throughout Canada and the United States.
A stage pianist in the world premiere of Brian Current’s Dora Award-nominated contemporary opera, Gould’s Wall, Natalie appeared in five sold-out performances with Tapestry Opera as part of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s 21st-Century Music Festival. Recent orchestral piano and celesta experiences have included Stravinsky’s Petrushka and J.S. Bach’s Easter Oratorio with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker with the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sergey Smbatyan...
LISTEN
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29 (III. Allegro con brio, ma non leggiere)
Performances
- UPCOMING -
Violin Studio Recital (Prof. Fabiola Kim): Kreisler's 150th Anniversary
October 21, 2025 | University of Michigan: Britton Recital Hall (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Kreisler: Tambourin chinois, Op. 3
Kreisler: Aucassin and Nicolette (Medieval Canzonetta)
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ABOUT NATALIE
Hailing from Toronto, pianist Natalie Yu (18) has been establishing herself as an active soloist, collaborator, and orchestral pianist throughout Canada and the United States.She was a stage pianist in the world premiere of Brian Current’s Dora Award-nominated contemporary opera, Gould’s Wall. Produced by Tapestry Opera, Natalie appeared in five sold-out performances as part of the Royal Conservatory of Music’s 21st-Century Music Festival. Recent orchestral piano and celesta experiences have included Stravinsky’s Petrushka and J.S. Bach’s Easter Oratorio with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Canada’s leading hybrid orchestra, as well as Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker with the Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sergey Smbatyan. She was also a member of the University of Michigan Philharmonia Orchestra, where she performed Bartok’s Miraculous Mandarin and Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps, among other works. Passionate about vocal repertoire, Natalie has worked with the Oscar Peterson School of Music as a collaborative pianist for their summer program choirs and served as a guild pianist for the Comic Opera Guild’s 2025 Harold Haugh Light Opera Vocal Competition.In the final round of the 2025 Florence Price International Piano Competition, Natalie was presented with 2nd prize and the Creative Programming Award. She also earned the highest Grade 10 piano examination mark across Canada in 2021, earning her the RCM National and Provincial Gold Medal. Natalie has won top prizes at the 2024 Michigan MTNA Competition, the 2022 International Music Festival and Competition in Markham, the 2021 Piano Star International Competition, and the 2022 Pickering Rotary Music Festival, where she received the Founder's Trophy and Best in Senior Piano Award. She was a finalist in the 2023 OMNI Music Competition in Québec and the 2023 Claudette Sorel Piano Competition.Natalie has been invited to perform in multiple recital series and music festivals, including solo programs at the inaugural Vaughan International Music Festival, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, and the Nine Sparrows Art Foundation Series. In May 2024, she played in the Prelude Concert pre-show for the Kronos Quartet’s 50th anniversary season, as well as the RCM’s Royal Occasion Celebration, where she performed Mendelssohn’s Piano Trio No. 1.A recipient of the Patricia Joy Arden Scholarship and Charles Fisher Scholarship, Natalie is pursuing a BM in Piano Performance with Logan Skelton at the University of Michigan’s School of Music, Theatre, and Dance. She previously studied with Michael Berkovsky as a full-scholarship pre-college student at the Phil and Eli Taylor Academy of the Royal Conservatory of Music. Natalie has also had the privilege of playing in masterclasses for internationally renowned musicians, including Robert McDonald, Jeremy Denk, and James Anagnoson.Inspired by her mentors, Natalie teaches as a member of the Berkovsky-Solomon Academy of Music’s piano faculty. She previously served as a mentor for The Royal Conservatory of Music's inaugural Piano Performance Intensive, coaching chamber ensembles and working one-on-one with students. Outside of piano, Natalie enjoys creative crafts like paper quilling and making copper wire trees while listening to heavy metal and hard techno.
LISTEN
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29 (III. Allegro con brio, ma non leggiere)
Debussy: Prélude No. 7 "La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune" from Book 2
Debussy: Prélude No. 4 "Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l'air du soir" from Book 1
Mozart: Piano Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op. 49 (I. Molto allegro agitato)
Mendelssohn: Fantasy in F-sharp Minor, Op. 28
Debussy: Prélude No. 2 "Feuilles mortes" from Book 2
Brahms: Violin Sonata No. 1 in G Major, Op. 78 (I. Vivace ma non troppo)
Alexina Louie: Fastforward (2008)
Gallery
Performances
- UPCOMING -
Violin Studio Recital (Prof. Fabiola Kim): Kreisler's 150th Anniversary
October 21, 2025 | University of Michigan: Britton Recital Hall (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Kreisler: Tambourin chinois, Op. 3
Kreisler: Aucassin and Nicolette (Medieval Canzonetta)
- PAST -
RCM Summer Piano Intensive Program: Opening Concert
August 11, 2025 | The Royal Conservatory of Music: Mazzoleni Hall (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Lavignac: Galop-Marche for One Piano, Eight Hands
Yoanna Haeun Jang & Sophia Geng: Violin Recital
May 28, 2025 | Knox Presbyterian Church (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Shostakovich: Five Pieces for 2 Violins and Piano
Florence Price International Piano Competition: Final Round
May 17, 2025 | University of Arkansas: Giffels Auditorium (Fayetteville, AR, USA)
Prokofiev: Piano Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29 (III. Allegro con brio ma non leggiere)
Messiaen: Prelude No. 1 “La colombe”
Natalie Yu: Un paysage d’autumne: Le huard qui crie
Mendelssohn: Fantasy in F-sharp Minor, Op. 28
University Philharmonia Orchestra Concert
April 21, 2025 | University of Michigan: Hill Auditorium (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Lili Boulanger: D'un matin de printemps
Bartok: The Miraculous Mandarin Suite
Harold Haugh Light Opera Vocal Competition: Semifinal & Final Round
March 15, 2025 | Tappan Middle School Auditorium (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Mozart: “Hai già vinta la causa… Vedrò mentr’io sospiro” from Le Nozze di Figaro
Tchaikovsky: ”Vi mnye pisali… Kogda bi zhizhn” (Onegin’s Aria) from Eugene Onegin
Lortzing: ”Heiterkeit und Fröhlichkeit” from Der Wildschütz
Gounod: ”Dieu! Quel frissons… Amour, ranime mon courage” from Roméo et Juliette
Sullivan: “Poor Wandering One!” from The Pirates of Penzance
Roig: ”Salida de Cecilia” from Cecilia Valdés
Donizetti: ”Chacun le sait” from La fille du régiment
Sullivan: ”I Cannot Tell What This Love May Be” from Patience
Mozart: ”Ach, ich fühl’s” from Die Zauberflöte
Puccini: ”Donde lieta uscì” from La Bohème
Mozart: “Come scoglio” from Così fan tutte
Lehár: ”Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß” from Giuditta
Rossini: ”Sventurata mi credea” (Clorinda’s Aria) from La Cenerentola
Strauss: “Mein Herr Marquis” from Die Fledermaus
Mendelssohn: Fantasy in F-sharp Minor, Op. 28
Masterclass with Kirill Kuzmin
February 21, 2025 | University of Michigan: Earl V. Moore Building (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Wolf: Elfenlied
University Philharmonia Orchestra: New Music Concert
February 13, 2025 | University of Michigan: Hill Auditorium (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Henry Dickson: Whisper Filaments
Nora Farley: All the Sun Touches
Ty Bloomfield: Something Sweet
Daniel Kim: Aurora
Strings Showcase Concert
January 31, 2025 | University of Michigan: Britton Recital Hall (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Debussy: Violin Sonata in G Minor, L. 140
University of Michigan Philharmonia Orchestra Concert
January 28, 2025 | University of Michigan: Hill Auditorium (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Gershwin: Overture to Song of the Flame
Coleman: Umoja: Anthem of Unity
University of Michigan Philharmonia Orchestra: Gershwin Centennial Concert
January 26, 2025 | Michigan Theatre (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Gershwin: Overture to Song of the Flame
Gloria Hsieh: Violin Recital
December 8, 2024 | University of Michigan: Mcintosh Theatre (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Debussy: Violin Sonata in G Minor, L. 140
Ontario Philharmonic Orchestra: Nutcracker - A Holiday Tradition!
November 30, 2024 | Regent Theatre (Oshawa, ON, Canada)
Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker, Op. 71
Masterclass with Christopher Harding
November 22, 2024 | University of Michigan: Earl V. Moore Building (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Debussy: Violin Sonata in G Minor, L. 140 (Intermède. Fantasque et léger)
MTNA Michigan Competition
November 10, 2024 | University of Michigan: Britton Recital Hall (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29 (III. Allegro con brio ma non leggiere)
Mozart: Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310/300d
Debussy: Prélude No. 4, Livre I (“Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir")
Debussy: Prélude No. 7, Livre II (“La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune”)
Rachmaninoff: Étude-Tableau in E-flat Minor, Op. 33 No. 6
Piano Forum
October 29, 2024 | University of Michigan: Britton Recital Hall (Ann Arbor, MI, USA)
Mozart: Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310/300d
Debussy: Prélude No. 4, Livre I (“Les sons et les parfums tournent dans l’air du soir")
Debussy: Prélude No. 7, Livre II (“La terrasse des audiences du clair de lune”)
Rachmaninoff: Étude-Tableau in E-flat Minor, Op. 33 No. 6
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29 (III. Allegro con brio ma non leggiere)
Royal Ontario Museum Concert Series
July 30, 2024 | Royal Ontario Museum (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20
Toronto Summer Music: Shuffle Hour Series
July 25, 2024 | Heliconian Hall (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Mozart: Sonata No. 8 in A Minor, K. 310/300d (I. Allegro maestoso)
Wagner trans. Liszt: “Liebestod” from Tristan und Isolde
Toronto Summer Music: Masterclass with Jennifer Frautschi
July 22, 2024 | University of Toronto: Walter Hall (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Sarasate: Zigeunerweisen, Op. 20
The Royal Conservatory of Music: The Royal Occasion
May 23, 2024 | The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op.49 (I. Molto allegro agitato)
Taylor Academy: Graduation Recital
May 19, 2024 | The Royal Conservatory of Music: Mazzoleni Hall (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Mendelssohn: Piano Trio No. 1 in D Minor, Op.49 (I. Molto allegro agitato)
Taylor Academy: Playathon
May 18, 2024 | The Royal Conservatory of Music (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Elgar: Violin Sonata, Op. 82 (I. Allegro. Risoluto)
Kronos Quartet 50th Anniversary Season: Prelude Concert
May 9, 2024 | The Royal Conservatory of Music: Koerner Hall Lobby (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29 (III. Allegro con brio, ma non leggiere)
Taylor Academy: Senior Chamber Concert
April 27, 2024 | The Royal Conservatory of Music: Mazzoleni Hall (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Elgar: Violin Sonata, Op. 82 (I. Allegro. Risoluto)
Masterclass with Jeremy Denk
April 12, 2024 | The Royal Conservatory of Music: Mazzoleni Hall (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29 (III. Allegro con brio, ma non leggiere)
Ilya Itin: Piano Recital
March 28, 2024 | The Berkovsky-Solomon Academy of Music (Vaughan, ON, Canada)
Bizet arr. Wilberg: Fantasy on Themes from Bizet's Carmen for 2 Pianos 8 Hands
Natalie Yu: Piano Recital
January 13, 2024 | The Royal Conservatory of Music: Temerty Theatre (Toronto, ON, Canada)
Beethoven: Sonata No. 11 in B-flat Major, Op. 22
Schumann: 8 Novelletten, Op. 21 (No. 8: Sehr lebhaft)
J.S. Bach: Prelude and Fugue in F-sharp Major, BWV 882 from WTC II
Rachmaninoff: Etude-Tableau in E-Flat Minor, Op. 33 No. 6
Chopin: Etude in F Major, Op. 10 No. 8
Prokofiev: Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, Op. 29