Named one of CBC Music's top 30 musicians under 30, Canadian pianist Vanessa Yu recently performed at Carnegie Hall as the Grand Prize winner of the Pacific Rim International Music Festival. She has given solo performances in Canada, the United States, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Austria. Upcoming engagements include performances at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto and the Vienna Konzerthaus, to be televised on PBS. Vanessa has performed Chopin, Beethoven, and Rimsky-Korsakov concerti with over ten orchestras in North America and Europe, and will be playing Rachmaninoff and Liszt concerti with the Mississauga Symphony, Scarborough Philharmonic, and Toronto Concert orchestras in 2023/24. She has been a prizewinner at the Chicago, Città di San Donà di Piave, and Eisemann Young Artist (youngest finalist) international competitions, among others. Vanessa is currently a full scholarship BMusPerf student at the University of Toronto where she studies with Steven Philcox and Enrico Elisi. She has played in masterclasses for renowned musicians including Julian Martin, Boris Slutsky, Jerome Lowenthal, John Perry, and Jonathan Biss. Inspired by her mentors, Vanessa enjoys teaching. Her students have prized at competitions including the Ontario Provincials. She has also taught workshops for partners including Google. vanessayu.com

Vanessa is the recipient of The Ellen and James M. Barton Memorial Music Scholarship, the Ronald Perry Smith Scholarship Fund, and the Glen and Ruth Roush Scholarship Fund.