| Biography |
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| “This one’s going to be the superstar!” - Lang Lang |
Marc Yu was quite used to listening to Beethoven CD's even before he was born for, during her
pregnancy, his mother would play Beethoven's symphonies on the off chance he might be
listening. Perhaps he was, for the infant, from the beginning, would stop crying upon hearing
Beethoven. Later, in his car seat, it was noticed that he would always make rhythmic sounds
during certain passages of the music. He knew and anticipated these passages.
At three, upon his first encounter with a piano, he picked out a tune and lessons soon followed
with Pamela Lam. Marc became the national winner in the 2003 auditions of the National Guild of
Piano Teachers, a feat which he repeated the following year. He participated in the Classical
Music Festival held by the Music Teachers' Association of California and passed statewide
Certificate of Merit music exams in both piano and cello, which he also performed at the festival
to outstanding reviews. In the same year he began cello lessons with Jennifer Goss and won
third place at the Los Angeles Cello Society Competition for the 16-year-old-and-under category.
Five days after his sixth birthday, in January 2005, Marc was selected to perform at the master
class of the prestigious Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, a world-class event for
young pianists that takes place every four years. Shortly thereafter, he began studying under Dr.
Stephen Cook as a scholarship student at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles,
California.
The Davidson Institute for Talent Development soon took note and awarded Marc their 2005
Fellowship---their youngest recipient to date. Marc was flown to Washington D.C. to accept the
prestigious honor in the Library of Congress where he delivered a heartfelt (and humorous)
speech in support of classical music.
By the end of that year, six-year-old Marc was a seasoned professional featured in numerous
recitals, benefits, and master classes. June 2005 saw his orchestral debut with the Capistrano
Valley Symphony conducted by Carlo Spiga. Two months later, he made his television debut on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, making a second appearance the following November playing
the cello. Appearances quickly followed with Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres (he has been a guest
on The Ellen Show four times). At Steinway Piano's invitation, Marc performed on legendary
virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz' piano to inaugurate the Steinway Historical Piano Tour.
In June 2007, Marc performed Schubert's challenging four-hand duet, the Fantasie in F Minor
with his idol, internationally renowned piano virtuoso Lang Lang in Las Vegas, Nevada. Later
that year, after performing in music festivals in San Remo; Genoa, Italy; and on Berlin, Germany
television; Marc toured Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan as a performer to promote "My
Brilliant Brain" (U.S. title: "Brain Child"), a BBC National Geographic documentary featuring Marc.
February 2008 saw Marc performing solo in tribute to Lang Lang at the Grammy Awards Salute to
Classical Music. He was an invited speaker and performer the following Spring in Dubai, at the
World Summit Meeting; and in June, he performed at a benefit to aid the victims of the May 2008
Sichuan, China earthquake held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. While there, he
also played for China's Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and members of the U.S. Cabinet at the U.S. –
China Strategic Economic Dialogue.
On August 31, 2008, Marc again performed the Schubert Fantasie with Lang Lang, this time to a
sold out crowd in London's Royal Albert Hall. Marc and Lang Lang will perform together again in
2009, at Vienna's Musikverein and at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Following an orchestral performance recently in Mobile, Alabama, one reviewer wrote "To the
uninitiated, a pianist of Yu's age presuming to play so subtle and complex a work might seem a
novelty. Marc Yu banished such thoughts with a passion and technical proficiency that belie his
years."
Marc is a piano student of Dr. Aleksei Takenouchi, and is learning orchestra conducting with Dr.
Jeffrey Bernstein of Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.
pregnancy, his mother would play Beethoven's symphonies on the off chance he might be
listening. Perhaps he was, for the infant, from the beginning, would stop crying upon hearing
Beethoven. Later, in his car seat, it was noticed that he would always make rhythmic sounds
during certain passages of the music. He knew and anticipated these passages.
At three, upon his first encounter with a piano, he picked out a tune and lessons soon followed
with Pamela Lam. Marc became the national winner in the 2003 auditions of the National Guild of
Piano Teachers, a feat which he repeated the following year. He participated in the Classical
Music Festival held by the Music Teachers' Association of California and passed statewide
Certificate of Merit music exams in both piano and cello, which he also performed at the festival
to outstanding reviews. In the same year he began cello lessons with Jennifer Goss and won
third place at the Los Angeles Cello Society Competition for the 16-year-old-and-under category.
Five days after his sixth birthday, in January 2005, Marc was selected to perform at the master
class of the prestigious Virginia Waring International Piano Competition, a world-class event for
young pianists that takes place every four years. Shortly thereafter, he began studying under Dr.
Stephen Cook as a scholarship student at the Colburn School of Performing Arts in Los Angeles,
California.
The Davidson Institute for Talent Development soon took note and awarded Marc their 2005
Fellowship---their youngest recipient to date. Marc was flown to Washington D.C. to accept the
prestigious honor in the Library of Congress where he delivered a heartfelt (and humorous)
speech in support of classical music.
By the end of that year, six-year-old Marc was a seasoned professional featured in numerous
recitals, benefits, and master classes. June 2005 saw his orchestral debut with the Capistrano
Valley Symphony conducted by Carlo Spiga. Two months later, he made his television debut on
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, making a second appearance the following November playing
the cello. Appearances quickly followed with Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres (he has been a guest
on The Ellen Show four times). At Steinway Piano's invitation, Marc performed on legendary
virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz' piano to inaugurate the Steinway Historical Piano Tour.
In June 2007, Marc performed Schubert's challenging four-hand duet, the Fantasie in F Minor
with his idol, internationally renowned piano virtuoso Lang Lang in Las Vegas, Nevada. Later
that year, after performing in music festivals in San Remo; Genoa, Italy; and on Berlin, Germany
television; Marc toured Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan as a performer to promote "My
Brilliant Brain" (U.S. title: "Brain Child"), a BBC National Geographic documentary featuring Marc.
February 2008 saw Marc performing solo in tribute to Lang Lang at the Grammy Awards Salute to
Classical Music. He was an invited speaker and performer the following Spring in Dubai, at the
World Summit Meeting; and in June, he performed at a benefit to aid the victims of the May 2008
Sichuan, China earthquake held at the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. While there, he
also played for China's Vice-Premier Wang Qishan and members of the U.S. Cabinet at the U.S. –
China Strategic Economic Dialogue.
On August 31, 2008, Marc again performed the Schubert Fantasie with Lang Lang, this time to a
sold out crowd in London's Royal Albert Hall. Marc and Lang Lang will perform together again in
2009, at Vienna's Musikverein and at Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Following an orchestral performance recently in Mobile, Alabama, one reviewer wrote "To the
uninitiated, a pianist of Yu's age presuming to play so subtle and complex a work might seem a
novelty. Marc Yu banished such thoughts with a passion and technical proficiency that belie his
years."
Marc is a piano student of Dr. Aleksei Takenouchi, and is learning orchestra conducting with Dr.
Jeffrey Bernstein of Occidental College in Los Angeles, California.