Music, Theatre, Dance Faculty & Staff

Xin

Yu

Adjunct Instructor, Violin

Yu Xin was born in China, where she began her violin journey at the age of five. Since moving to the United States, she has quickly established herself as a versatile performer, serving as Associate Concertmaster of the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Xin additionally holds tenured contracts with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Symphony Orchestra and Flint Symphony Orchestra. Most recently, she won the position with Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra and performs regularly with the Lansing Symphony and Fort Wayne Philharmonic.

Ms. Xin has appeared as a soloist throughout the United States and Asia, presenting recitals and concerts in major venues. In the summer of 2023, she embarked on a nine-concert tour across nine cities in China. In 2022, she was invited by GOCAA to present a recital at Opera America in New York City. Ms. Xin was also featured as a soloist with the Battle Creek Symphony in a performance of Fiddler on the Roof. In addition to her performing career, Ms. Xin is passionate about music education. She teaches at the Flint Institute of Music and served on the violin faculty at the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp where she gave a masterclass and solo recital.

As a chamber musician, Ms. Xin has performed extensively with a wide range of ensembles. She has worked closely with internationally recognized string quartets including the Shanghai String Quartet, Takács Quartet, and the Armida String Quartet. In Singapore, she was invited to perform in a piano trio with renowned pianist Melvyan Tan at the Asian Civilization Museum and recent highlights include a performance of Mendelssohn’s Octet with principal members of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra’s Woodward String Quartet. In 2022, her ensemble, the Clover Trio, earned third place at the 2022 MTNA National Chamber Music Competition and received the Gold Prize at the World Classical Music Awards.

Ms. Xin obtained her Bachler of Music Performance degree with full scholarship at the Singapore Yong Seiw Toh Conservatory before earning her Master of Music degree at DePaul University in Chicago, where she studied with Ilya Kaler. She is currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts degree in ABD Status at Michigan State University under the mentorship of Professor Dmitri Berlinsky. She also draws inspiration from artistic encounters with renowned violinists such as Midori Goto, Vadim Gluzman, David Kim, David Takeno, Frank Huang, and Kristóf Baráti.