Biography
Yu Hsing-Yi is an acclaimed Taiwanese conductor and Music Director of the Taipei Chanson Orchestra, renowned for fusing the musical languages of East and West with poetry and dramatic tension. Trained from childhood in piano and flute, he was drawn to the timbre of the bamboo dizi and became a national competition champion. His training unites performance and scholarship. Beyond conducting, he is active in music advocacy and arrangement, and has developed a new systematic music-education curriculum for young children — committed to awakening musicianship from its earliest foundations.
- 1987
As a high-school student, won first prize at the inaugural Taipei Chinese Orchestra National Instrumental Concerto Competition, beginning an international career.
- 1992
Studied at Taipei National University of the Arts, earning a Master of Music.
- 1993
Founded the Taipei Youth Chinese Orchestra, serving as associate conductor.
- 1999
Lecturer at the Department of Chinese Music, Tainan National University of the Arts; led ensembles on acclaimed tours of Europe and the Americas.
- 2001
Studied conducting systematically under maestro Chen Chiu-Sen, former director of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra.
- 2007
Appointed Music Director of the Taipei Chanson Orchestra — a role held to this day.
- 2009
Began doctoral studies in orchestral conducting at Fu Jen Catholic University, mentored by maestro Kuo Lien-Chang.
- 2015
Guest conductor of the Hong Kong Youth Chinese Orchestra, invited by the Music Office of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department.
- 2017
Guest conductor of the Taipei Chinese Orchestra; from this year, began mentoring over twenty school ensembles and training teachers in Chengdu, Sichuan.
- 2024
Conducted the Chengdu Symphony Orchestra in “Spring Breeze” — a symphonic concert of classic Taiwanese folk songs — and gave lectures on Taiwanese folk music.
- 2025
Produced and directed the pioneering theatrical concert “A Concert Hosted by Zhuge Liang — The Heart Songs of Kongming,” premiered on New Year’s Day 2026 to acclaim.
The power of music lies not in virtuosity but in the truth of emotion. The conductor’s task is to let the orchestra hear one another — and let the audience hear the work breathe.
East and West are not opposites. The breath of the dizi and the layering of the orchestra spring from the same reverence for sound. I seek to let both languages meet naturally on one stage.
Awakening musicianship through foundational education is the work I value most in recent years. An artistic life begins the moment a child first truly listens.