Man-Ching Donald Yu (b.1980) is a multiple award-winning composer whose music captivates with its refined blend of post-minimalist and post-modernist aesthetics. His recent works explore suspended time and space through subtle transformations of musical parameters, creating immersive sonic landscapes. Fanfare Magazine describes his music as “an arresting and personal intermixing of tonal and atonal languages, with the musical colors and gestures of his native country infiltrating the mix.”
A prolific and internationally recognized composer, Yu has written nearly 200 works spanning instrumental and vocal music, chamber opera, choral compositions, and symphonies. His music has been performed in over 50 cities across more than 20 countries in North and South America, Europe, and Asia. Prestigious venues and festivals such as the Musikverein (Vienna), Contrasts International Contemporary Music Festival, International Review of Composers (Serbia), EurAsia International Music Festival (Russia), the International Kiev Music Fest, the Malta International Spring Festival, and the 2015 Expo Milano have featured his works. The Lviv National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, Gloria Chamber Choir, Lugansk Philharmonic, Uzhgorod Philharmonic with Chorus, Opera Hong Kong Chorus, Icarus Ensemble (Italy), and the Orlando Contemporary Music Orchestra have performed his works. His scores are published by leading houses such as Donemus (Netherlands) and Universal Edition (Vienna), with additional publications by BabelScores (France), Edizioni Sconfinarte (Italy), and Da Vinci Edition (Japan). His recordings are available on Donemus Records, Phasma Music, Ablaze, Albany, Zimbel Records, and Association New Music (Ukraine).
Beyond composition, Yu is an active scholar whose music theory papers have been presented at international conferences in Serbia, Poland, and the UK, and published in academic books and journals. Since 2007, he has served as a university lecturer in music theory, musicology, and composition in Hong Kong. He has also contributed as a jury member for competitions such as the Osaka International Music Competition (2018) and the Fanny Mendelssohn International Online Competition (2024).
Yu began formal music training at an early age and made his concerto debut at 16. He earned his Bachelor of Music in piano performance at Baylor University under the tutelage of Krassimira Jordan, a distinguished pianist of the Russian school. He later studied composition at the International Summer Academy Mozarteum Salzburg (Austria), and completed his Ph.D. in composition and music theory at Hong Kong Baptist University with full postgraduate research assistantship support. He holds the FTCL in Composition, LRSM in Piano, and the Super Soloist Performance Zertifikat from the Wiener Musik Prüfungskommission. His accolades include the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship, Muzyczne Orły International Competition (Poland), Newly Published Music Competition (U.S.), Classic Pure Vienna International Music Competition, Clouzine International Music Awards, and the First Great Award at the Vienna International Music Competition. Notably, his orchestral work Unravelling received Gold Medals in both Best Contemporary Classical and Composition categories at the 2022 Global Music Awards.