YU, Julian

Born in Beijing in 1957, Julian Yu surprised his non-musical family by writing his first composition, a one-act Peking opera, at the age of twelve. He went on to study composition at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and later joined the teaching staff there. 
From 1980 to 1982 he studied at the Tokyo College of Music under Joji Yuasa and Shin-ichiro Ikebe, and in 1985 he migrated to Australia. In 1988 he was selected for a Composition Fellowship at Tanglewood, where he studied under Leonard Bernstein, Hans Werner Henze and Oliver Knussen and was awarded the Koussevitzky Tanglewood Composition Prize for that year.
In 1991 and 1994, Yu was awarded the inaugural and consecutive prestigious Paul Lowin Orchestral Prize. In 2011 he was Theme Composer at the Suntory Festival in Tokyo, and in 2018 he was Composer-in-Residence at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville.
His music has been performed by many orchestras and ensembles worldwide such as Ensemble InterContemporain, London Sinfonietta, BBC Symphony Orchestra of Wales, Tanglewood Music Centre Orchestra, and all the major orchestras of Australia.
It has also featured at international contemporary music festivals such as the Munich Biennale, ISCM World Music Days, Asian Composers’ League (ACL) Festivals, and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.
Commissioning bodies include the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), BBC Promenade Concerts, IRCAM, the City of Munich, Australia Ensemble, Melbourne International Festival and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. In recent years, Yu has composed for the China National Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, China National Center for the Performing Arts Orchestra, National Ballet of China Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Philharmonic Orchestra, Zhejiang Symphony Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Flinders Quartet. 
He is currently Honorary Fellow of the Faculty of Music, University of Melbourne.