As an award-winning choral conductor, Julie Yu is used to commanding attention from performers and audiences alike when she takes the podium.
As an Asian-American woman conductor, she also knows that it’s not just her skill with the baton that ensures that all eyes are on her during performances.
“If there was something that I could choose to imprint or make any kind of difference on in the future, it would be that some … person looks up on stage and goes, ‘Hmm, I’ve ever seen a person that looks like her, or conducts like her or is like that on stage’ — and that brings out a unique sense of how they feel about what they’re experiencing,” Yu said.
“Every time I do an honor choir — 200, 300 kids at some state that I’ve never been to — I have kids always come up and say, ‘I’ve never worked with XYZ conductors. You’re the very first THIS that I’ve ever seen,’ or things like that. … So, representation absolutely matters.”
A rarity herself in the choral music world, Yu accepted a rare opportunity earlier this year to return to Oklahoma in the dual role of director of choral activities at the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University and artistic director of Canterbury Voices, the state’s nationally recognized symphony chorus.
![Canterbury Voices' members rehearse with new conductor and artistic director, Julie Yu on Oct. 2, 2023 in Oklahoma City, Okla. [Steve Sisney/For The Oklahoman]](https://theproudasian.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/71041304007-ef-4-a-9008.jpg)
New Canterbury Voices artistic director returns to Sooner State after 16 years at Kansas State
Yu succeeds Randi Von Ellefson, who retired in May after 19 seasons of leading Canterbury Voices and OCU’s choir program.
“It’s important to really have different types of people representing your organization. We did have a female conductor earlier on before Randi, Constantina Tsolainoui — she was fun and was here for a few years — and we’re just so excited to have Julie here and switch things up,” said Canterbury Voices Executive Director Pam Mowry.
“The search committee, the deans, our board, we all feel like rock stars for having brought her here because she really is that well known in the United States….
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