Chieh-An Yu, violinist

Chieh-An Yu was born in Taipei, Taiwan on July 30th, 1997. His passion for classical music and violin can be traced to the time he was a 5-year-old boy. That was when he explicitly expressed interest in the violin and began spending time practicing independently and proactively.

He has received lessons and masterclasses from various world-renowned musicians such as David Takeno, Alexander Bartha, Jasmine Lin, Joseph Silverstein, Noah Bendix-Balgley, James Buswell, Alexander Kerr, Gerard Poulet, Philip Setzer, Cho-Liang Lin, etc. His love for chamber music also has propelled him to take part in various chamber music festivals such as Formosa Chamber Music Festival, Taipei Music Academy & Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Kneisel Hall Chamber Music Festival, etc. He also has won the first prize at Paul Rolland Violin Competition, as well as various awards from National Student Competitions. He has also performed across Singapore, Taiwan, and the USA. He is also currently part of the Emerson String Quartet Institute that receives extensive coachings from the renowned Emerson String Quartet. Aside from receiving the inspirations from the maestros, he also has been devoted in passing down the music passion and knowledge by giving educational recitals or community concert at elementary schools in Taiwan or Singapore, as well as teaching young talents to learn and appreciate music. He also has been a violin educator devoting to making the violin fun and easy as well as motivating young children's own desire to explore the music world.

After earning Bachelor Degrees from Yong Siew Toh Conservatory and the Peabody Conservatory (under the instruction of Qian Zhou and Keng-Yeun Tseng), Chieh-An entered the School of Music, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to continue his exploration of music repertoire and acquired a Master of Music degree under the tutelage of Wayne Lee. He is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts at Stony Brook University under the tutelage of Jennifer Frautschi, Philip Setzer, and Hagai Shaham. He is also currently serving as a teaching assistant and chamber music coach at Stony Brook University.