Musicatlas
Music
- Autumn Elegy (Earlier Work)
- Black Hole for Full Orchestra
- Brilliant Humoreous Waltz (Earlier Work)
- Cantabile for Unaccompanied Violin
- A Children Piece in C "Mozartian"
- Choral: Recalling for Brass Quintet
- Concerto for 5-String Viola and Orchestra
- Concerto for Horn and Orchestra
- Caprice for Viola Solo
- Rhapsodic Sonata for flute and Piano
- Concerto for Horn, String Orchestra, Harp and Timpani
- Concerto for Horn, Strings, Harp and Timpani
- Concert Rhapsody for Violin and Piano
- Dark Rhapsody for Cello and Piano
- Dialoque for Oboe and Clarinet
- Dialogue for Two Violins
- Double Concerto for Harp, Viola, String Orchestra and Timpani
- "Endure" for Soprano and Piano
- Essay for Orchestra
- Fantasy on "The Lady of Shalott
- Fantasy Poem "Beowulf" for Full Orchestra
- Five Miniatures
- Four Sovenoirs for Wind Quintet
- Fuga for String Quartet (Earlier Work)
- Hell and Heaven
- Illusion for Oboe and Piano
- Improvisation: Abstract
- In the Dark Mist for Clarinet and Piano
- The Lonely Heart of the Cosmos for String Orchestra
- Mesto Fugue for Strings Trio or Chamber String Orchestra
- Nocturne for Clarinet and Orchestra
- Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra
- Romance for Violin and Piano
- Serenade for Flute and Piano
- Sonata No.1 "Grand Concert Fantasy"
- Sonata No.2 "Humoreque"
- Sonata No.3 "Aggressive" for Piano
- Sonata No.4 "Chaos"
- Sonata No.5 "Ionization"
- A Song Cycle from Japanese Lyrics: 1.Human Life; 2.Snow; 3.In the Beautiful Life; 4.Nagara River; 5.Swallow
- Song without Words
- Sonnet No.104 for Mezzo-Soprano and Piano
- String Quartet in Eb
- String Quartet No.1 "Four Seasonal Sketches"
- String Quartet No.2 "Apparition"
- Symphonic Fantasy "Comet"
- Symphonic Poem: Dreamscapes
- Ten Variations on a Chinese Folk Song "Home-sickness"
- Theme and Variations for Woodwind Quintet
- Toccata for Piano
- Two Dramatic Art Songs for soprano and piano: I. Death from William Shakespeare’s "Measure from Measure" II, I saw thee weep by Lord Byron
- Waltz for String Orchestra: Moderato Mesto e con grazia (Earlier Work)
- Uncertainty
- Zwei Rosen for Baritone and Piano (Earlier Work)
- Two Pieces for Clarinet Solo
- Duet for Violin and Cello "Argument"
- Vier Kleine Klavier Stuecke
Life
Man-Ching Donald Yu is one of the most active Hong Kong composers of his generation. Yu started learning piano at an early age and made his first debut as a soloist with Pan Asia Symphony Orchestra when he was sixteen, performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 3.
He earned a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Baylor University where he received scholarships to study piano with renowned pianist Krassimira Jordan. He also studied advanced composition and conducting. In the summer of 2000, he attended piano summer classes in Vienna’s Bösendorfer Piano Academy. In 2007 May, he earned a Master of Arts degree in Composition from Hong Kong Baptist University. In 2007 July, Yu received scholarships to attend the Cortona Contemporary Music Festival "soundSCAPE" in Italy. In 2007 August, he was also awarded with scholarships to attend the International Summer Academy of the "University Mozarteum Salzburg" in Austria. Yu has studied composition with Christopher Keyes, Brian Hulse, Ichiro Nodaira, Scott McAllister and Yip Wai Hong. In 2008 summer, he will attend the "International Summer Course for New Music" in Darmstadt, Germany.
He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Composition of the Hong Kong Baptist University under full University Grant studentships. His research area focuses on applying the western post-tonal theory and the eastern Tai Chi compositional system towards large scale traditional acoustic compositions. In 2007, he was the recipient of the ASCAP Standard Awards for his active compositional performances in Hong Kong and in the United States. In 2008 spring, he was awarded the 2007-2008 Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship for his postgraduate composition achievement.
Yu is prolific and by the age of twenty-five, he has already composed over hundred works to his credit in many genres including piano works, organ works, chamber music, vocal music, choral music, opera, film music, music for drama, orchestral works, and concerti. As a performer, Yu has been performing his own music in various prominent venues in Hong Kong including the Hong Kong City Hall’s Concert Hall, and he is one of the first composer in Hong Kong who frequently premiere own compositions actively in public as a pianist or an accompanist. His vast number of compositions have been heard in various occasions in New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Iowa, Texas, Mexico City, England, Italy, Austria, and Hong Kong including the special presentation of the Cortona Contemporary Music Festival "soundSCAPE" in Cortona in 2007 July, the International Summer Academy "Mozarteum" in Salzburg in 2007 August, the 18th Annual Fruehling Posaunen "Spring Trombones Festival" in Pennsylvania in 2007 March, and the "Coro de la Universidad de Harvard Viaje de Mexico" in 2007 March. Yu’s music has been performed at various venues including the Memorial Church and Adolphus Busch Hall of Harvard University, University "Mozarteum" Salzburg, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Baylor University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Northern Iowa, Elmira College, Iglesia San Francisco El Grande in Ciudad de Mexico, Temple San Antonio in Queretaro Mexico, Teatro de Bellas Artes in San Miguel de Allende Mexico, the Hong Kong City Hall Theatre, the Hong Kong Science Museum, Sai Wan Ho Civic Centre Theatre, Yip’s Salon de Musique, Hong Kong Baptist University’s Academic Community Hall, Shek Mun Campus’s Auditorium, City University of Hong Kong’s Wei Hing Theatre, the Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Pittsburgh, First Unitarian Church in Massachusetts, the Community Culture Center Auditorium in Boston, St. Gregory Centre in Canterbury and among others.
More than thirty compositions including piano works, chamber music and vocal works are published by Gold Branch Music, Inc. in North Carolina and Wehr’s Music House in Florida. His chinese art songs are mainly published by New World Book Centre in Hong Kong whereas his organ music are published by Zimbel Press. His piano works, chamber music and art song are released by Zimbel Records in Massachusetts, U.S.A. on the CD, Illusions: Music of Man-Ching Donald Yu, features the performances of his own music. The recordings have been distributed to various radio stations and dealers worldwide. Yu is the first Hong Kong composer whose music has been released and published by those companies in the United States.
Yu’s music has been played or/and commissioned by various performers, ensembles, choir, orchestra, organization, and writers including Ithaca College Trombone Troupe in Ithaca New York, Onondaga Civic Symphony Orchestra in Syracuse New York, the Choral Fellows of the Harvard University Choir in Cambridge Massachusetts, Duo46 in Arizona, U.S. organist Carson Cooman, Japanese violinist Emi Takahashi, the Hong Kong Baptist University’s International Writers Workshop, renowned Taiwanese poet Ya Hsien, Hong Kong poet Mr. Wong Kin Kwok, film director Snowman Cheung, and among others. From 2006-2007, Yu was named the artistic director of the Hong Kong Integrated Arts Association.
For further information on Yu, visit:http://www.societyofcomposers.org/user/man-chingdonaldyu.html.