Premiered on June 12th, 2021 at Le Centquatre-Paris as part of Ircam ManiFeste.

Joshua Hyde: alto saxophone
Zoë De Sousa: choreography and filmed dance 
Jon Yu, Dominic Constantine, and Mareike Engelhardt: video

This affirmation (2021) for alto saxophone, video, and electronics

Live improvisation on Jan. 6, 2021 @ Ircam, Salle Stravinsky

Yi Zhou 周易, cello
Jon Yu, electronics

Improvisation with Yi Zhou 周易 (Jan. 6, 2021) for cello and electronics

Premiered by loadbang ensemble on March 2nd, 2023 at OPERA America, New York City

Tyler Bouque, baritone voice
Andy Kozar, trumpet
Adrián Sandí, bass  clarinet
William Lang, trombone

[pictured: "Matter Level Perspective" by Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven]

Matter Level Perspective (2023) for baritone, trumpet, bass clarinet, and trombone

Commissioned by Duo Signal

Alejandro Oliván - alto saxophone
Adrián Albaladejo Díaz - trombone

April 20th, 2023 Live at Unternehmen mitte – Safe Theater, Basel, Switzerland

[pictured: David Rabinowitch, "Elliptical Plane in 3 Masses and 4 Scales III," 1973–75]

An altar in three frames (2022) for alto saxophone and trombone

Premiere performance by ELISION Ensemble on December 15th, 2024 at the Melbourne Recital Centre.

Harry Ward, violin
Freya Schack-Arnott, cello

[pictured: "Bloc de glace, forêt de Fontainebleau" by Charlotte Perriand]

Pnema II (2020) for violin and cello

Performed by Transient Canvas (Amy Advocat, bass clarinet & Matt Sharrock, marimba) at Center for New Music on 1/19/2016

(please listen with headphones or good speakers if possible)


Solis one (2015) for bass clarinet and marimba

Premiered by Mivos Quartet on April 14, 2017, at Center for New Music, San Francisco.

Olivia De Prato, violin
Lauren Cauley, violin
Victor Lowrie, viola
Mariel Roberts, cello 

Special thanks to Jeremy Wagner for recording, and Brent Miller for mastering.

O reche modo (2017) for string quartet

Pnema (2018) for clarinet and violin

Premiere performance by Earplay, at Herbst Theatre on April 30, 2018. 

Peter Josheff, clarinet
Terrie Baune, violin

Pnema (2018) for clarinet and violin

Premiered by Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart on October 5th, 2018, at Festival Musica, Strasbourg. 

Johanna Zimmer, soprano
Susanne Leitz-Lorey, soprano
Truike van der Poel, mezzo-soprano
Martin Nagy, tenor
Guillermo Anzorena, baritone
Andreas Fischer, bass

The texts in this piece are taken from two sources: 
1) a medieval Middle English alchemical poem of anonymous origin titled “Verses upon the Elixir” (ca. mid-fifteenth century).
2) the poem “Hell’s Wisdom” (1923-27) by Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven.

PEK TI (2018) for vocal sextet

Ru (2017) for ensemble

Premiere performance at Hertz Hall, UC Berkeley, on Feb. 3rd, 2018, by Eco Ensemble, conducted by David Milnes.

Stacey Pelinka, flutes; Kyle Bruckmann, oboe; Jeff Anderle, clarinets; Brendan Lai-Tong, trombone; Loren Mach, percussion; Allegra Chapman, piano; Hrabba Atladottir, violin; Julie Michael, viola; Helen Newby, cello; Richard Worn, bass.

Recorded by Jeremy Wagner.

Ru (2017) for ensemble

Premiered by AsianArt Ensemble on August 11th, 2019 at Villa Elisabeth, Berlin.

Wu Wei, sheng
Hong Yoo, daegeum
Matthias Leupold, violin
Chang-Yun Yoo, viola
Gabriella Strümpel, cello
Matthias Bauer, contrabass
Adam Weisman, percussion
Il-Ryun Chung, conductor

[pictured: Paulo Nozolino]

The spine with throatless hum (2019) for ensemble

Premiered at outHEAR Festival in Larissa, Greece on December 14th, 2019 by members of Klangforum Wien and PPCM. 

Felix Martl, bass clarinet
Mikael Rudolfsson, trombone
Leo Morello, cello
Joonas Ahonen, piano
Dimitrios Polisoidis, conductor

recorded by Dimitri Papageorgiou

[pictured: John Divola]

Sunol (2019) for bass clarinet, trombone, cello, and piano

Jon Yu is a Taiwanese-American composer whose music explores notions of ritual, utility, and excess. His recent works focus on sculptural elements in electroacoustic instrumental music.

His music has been performed internationally by ensembles and soloists including Mivos Quartet, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, loadbang, Wet Ink Ensemble, AuditivVokal Dresden, Eco Ensemble, Earplay, AsianArt Ensemble, haegeum player Soo Yeon Lyuh, and percussionist Oded Geizhals. His music has been presented at June in Buffalo, Dian Red Kechil, Darmstadt Ferienkurse, Pacific Rim Music Festival, Festival Musica, Festival Barcelona Modern, impuls Festival, outHEAR New Music Week, and IRCAM ManiFeste. He was the recipient of the 2017 Mivos/Kanter Prize for his string quartet O reche modo, and was the laureate of the Prix Alain Baltes for his vocal sextet PEK TI. From 2018-19, he was in residence in Paris at Cité internationale des arts as a fellow of the George Ladd Prix de Paris. He returned to Paris in 2020-21 to study in the Cursus Program on Composition and Computer Music at IRCAM under Thierry De Mey. He was awarded with a MacDowell Fellowship in 2024. 

Jon completed his PhD in Music Composition at UC Berkeley, where he studied with Franck Bedrossian, Ken Ueno, and Edmund Campion. He holds a Master’s degree from San Francisco State University, where he studied with Benjamin Sabey. He has also studied privately with Steven Kazuo Takasugi, Rebecca Saunders, and Pierluigi Billone. He currently teaches music theory, composition, orchestration, and musicianship as a lecturer at San José State University and UC Berkeley.

Jon Yu

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