A native of Taiwan, clarinetist Li-Jie Yu started piano at the age of five. Under her mother’s mentorship, she picked up the clarinet at eight and it soon became her favorite.

Yu won third prize at the 2018 Woodwind Solo Competition sponsored by the National Society of Arts and Letters. In 2021, she received the Government Scholarship to Study Abroad (GSSA) from the Ministry of Education in Taiwan to support and continue her studies in the U.S.. She held the position of clarinet Assistant Instructor at Jacobs School of Music from 2018 to 2023.  

As a chamber musician, Yu attended The Maine Chamber Music Seminar at Snow Pond in 2025 and Sarasota Music Festival in 2018; in 2022, she was sponsored by the renowned Verdehr Trio to perform a recital of their previously commissioned works. Yu, violinist Laurel Gagnon and pianist Ruoyang Xiang founded the Vinola Trio to promote contemporary music for trio, and have performed throughout Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Georgia, and New Hampshire. The trio received grand prize at the 2025 Plowman Chamber Music Competition and won prizes at both the MTNA National Chamber Music Competition and The American Prize in 2024. The group has performed at institutions including Boston Conservatory, Indiana University, and Truman State University, and has completed multiple residencies at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute. Actively involved in chamber music education, the ensemble has led masterclasses at Boston Conservatory, Truman State University. Upcoming season engagements include performances at the Odyssey Chamber Music Series, Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concerts in Chicago, and a residency at the University of California San Diego.

In addition to chamber music, Yu is active in orchestral playing. She was the second clarinet at the Terre Haute Symphony Orchestra in 2019-2023 and was the principal clarinet at IU Philharmonic Orchestra for several seasons under the batons of Thomas Wilkins, Giancarlo Guerrero, Gilbert Varga, Teddy Abrams, and Arthur Fagan. Yu was the principal clarinet at New Music Ensemble of JSoM led by Dr. David Dzubay, where she has collaborated with many well-known composers as Claude Baker, Sky Macklay, Eric Wubbels, and Andy Akiho. 

Yu is a clarinet educator around Bloomington and Columbus area of Indiana, where she teaches private lessons and teaches young musicians at Columbus East High School. Her specialties in reed adjustment technique and injury prevention help her students to effectively improve the efficiency in clarinet playing.

Yu is a doctoral candidate at the Jacobs School of Music, minoring in Music Theory, and studying under the tutelage of Eli Eban. She completed her Master’s Degree and Artist Diploma at Jacobs School of Music and was awarded the prestigious Performer’s Certificate in recognition of her outstanding clarinet performance. Yu earned her Bachelor of Music from Taipei National University of the Arts, where she studied with Pei-Yun Lin and Amy Chang.