Natalie Yu, age seventeen, started playing the piano at age six. Having received the highest Grade 10 piano examination mark across Canada, Natalie was the recipient of the 2021 RCM National and Provincial Gold Medal. Competing in Canada and beyond, she has won top prizes at the 2021 Piano Star International Competition and the 2022 International Music Festival and Competition, and was a finalist in the 2023 OMNI Music Competition in Québec and the 2023 Claudette Sorel Piano Competition in New York. As the first prize winner of the 2020 Ontario Music Festivals’ Association Provincial Finals, Natalie has received top scholarships from the Unionville, North York, Toronto Kiwanis, and Markham Music Festivals, as well as the Founder’s Trophy and Best in Senior Piano Award as the top performer at the Pickering Rotary Music Festival.  

During the 2022-2023 season, Natalie was a stage pianist in the world premiere of Brian Current’s Dora Award-nominated contemporary opera, Gould’s Wall. Produced by Tapestry Opera, she appeared in five sold-out performances as part of The Royal Conservatory’s 21st-Century Music Festival. An active collaborator, she has performed Stravinsky’s Petrushka and J.S. Bach’s Easter Oratorio with the Mississauga Symphony Orchestra, Canada’s leading hybrid orchestra. 

A full-scholarship alumna of The Phil and Eli Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists of The Royal Conservatory, Natalie is currently studying with Michael Berkovsky and previously studied privately with Victoria Gimelshtein. She will be pursuing post-secondary studies in Piano Performance at the University of Michigan with Logan Skelton. She has had the privilege of playing in masterclasses for internationally renowned musicians including Robert McDonald, Jeremy Denk, and James Anagnoson. Inspired by her mentors, Natalie enjoys teaching as a member of the Berkovsky-Solomon Academy of Music’s piano faculty. Her tutees have won prizes provincially, nationally, and internationally and were invited to perform at prestigious venues including Koerner Hall.