Yang Liu is an internationally acclaimed violinist whose performances have captivated audiences across North America, South America, Europe, and Asia. A prizewinner of the Twelfth International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, he is also the 2023 American Prize winner in String Performance and a first-prize winner of the 2022 Medici International Competition, the 2021 International Artists Award, and China’s 5th National Violin Competition.

Mr. Liu made his North American debut with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performing Paganini’s Violin Concerto No. 1 and has since appeared as soloist with the St. Louis Symphony under Robert Spano, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, the Odense Symphony Orchestra (Denmark), the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra (Brazil), and numerous others. In the Chicago region, he has collaborated with Ars Viva, the Lake Forest Symphony, Highland Park Strings, the North Park Symphony, and the Oak Park Symphony.

As part of a U.S.–China cultural exchange initiative led by Secretary of State John Kerry and China’s Cultural Department Chairman Luo, Mr. Liu toured five cities in China performing the Butterfly Lovers Violin Concerto with the Qingdao Symphony Orchestra. Over the course of his career, he has performed in more than forty countries, serving as a musical ambassador across cultures.

Deeply committed to cultural dialogue and artistic inclusion, Mr. Liu is founder of the Yang & Olivia Arts Foundation and Momento Virtuosi, a chamber ensemble celebrating diversity of ethnicity and instrumentation. Through performance, commissioning, and community engagement, he advocates for repertoire that reflects a broad spectrum of global voices.

His artistic journey has been documented in the nationally broadcast CCTV documentary String of Heart – Yang Liu and in his autobiography, Performing in Love (2014). He has appeared on China’s premier New Year’s television special, reaching tens of millions of viewers, and was featured in the Emmy Award–winning video Classical Quest. His debut album, Song of Nostalgia, has received wide acclaim and frequent broadcasts on National Public Radio in the United States.

Mr. Liu regularly performs and teaches at leading festivals and academies, including the Great Wall Music Academy, Aspen Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, and the SESC Music Festival in Brazil, and is a frequent guest on Chicago’s WFMT. He presents masterclasses at conservatories and universities worldwide.

Born in China, Mr. Liu studied with Lin Yaoji in Beijing before continuing his studies in the United States with Kurt Sassmannshaus and Dorothy DeLay. He performs on a 1741 Guarneri violin, generously loaned by the Stradivari Society. He resides in Chicago with his wife and musical partner, Olivia, and their two sons.