Tianyi Lu, Conductor

Making a name for herself across multiple continents, Tianyi Lu holds the positions of Assistant Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Principal Conductor of the St Woolos Sinfonia in the UK, and from August 2019 commenced as Female-Conductor-In-Residence with the Welsh National Opera in Cardiff, a role which will include performances of Bizet’s ‘Carmen’ in 2020. Recent highlights include concerts with the Gulbenkian Orchestra with Carolin Widmann both in Lisbon and on tour in Portugal, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Romanian Radio National Orchestra, Sydney Symphony Orchestra, Hallé Orchestra and Auckland Philharmonia.

The 2019/20 season sees Lu making her debut with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Singapore Symphony Orchestra as well the Dunedin and Christchurch Symphony Orchestras. In her role as Assistant Conductor of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra she will lead a regional concerts tour in November 2019 before subsequently returning twice more to the orchestra in 2020, alongside return engagements with the Ulster Orchestra and Romanian Radio National Orchestra.

Lu was an active participant in the Concertgebouworkest masterclass with Daniele Gatti in June 2018, and was a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic in the 2017/18 season. In 2016 she was selected to participate in the conducting programme of the Linda and Mitch Hart Institute for Women Conductors at the Dallas Opera, and was subsequently invited back to assist their production of ‘La Traviata’ and to conduct a mainstage concert of Donizetti in 2017. Prior to this, Lu took part in Bernard Haitink’s Lucerne Festival Masterclass.

Her broad musical interests and passion for contemporary music led to her studying electronic music composition as well as studies in baroque flute, viola da gamba and harpsichord. She is strongly committed to education and outreach projects, and has been involved in the Sistema Aotearoa programme in New Zealand, inspired by the Venezuelan model.

Born in Shanghai, Lu’s family subsequently moved to New Zealand. She completed her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours at the University of Auckland with Uwe Grodd and Karen Grylls, before studying at the University of Melbourne with John Hopkins. In 2015 Lu completed her Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting with Distinction at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she studied with David Jones.