Tianyi Lu conducts NYO Victory.

Internationally known for her thrilling energy on the podium, her deeply creative approach and her open-hearted style of leadership, Chinese-born New Zealander Tianyi Lu collaborates with major orchestras and opera houses worldwide. Her work is driven by an ethos of empowerment, creating connection and compassion across diverse communities through music.

After winning First Prize at both the Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition in Germany and the International Conducting Competition Guido Cantelli in Italy, Tianyi has been recently appointed Conductor-in-Residence with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway. She is also the Female-Conductor-in-Residence with the Welsh National Opera and Principal Conductor of the St Woolos Sinfonia in the UK.

Recent highlights include concerts and recordings with the Noord Nederlands Orkest, Philharmonie Zuid-Nederland, Västerås Sinfonietta, Phion Orkest, Lapland Chamber Orchestra, Gulbenkian Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Passionately committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and to building a more empathetic world through the arts, Tianyi is an Artist Ambassador for Opera for Peace and is regularly invited to work with and speak to communities and institutions about her experiences in empowering leadership, transforming cultures, resilience and wellbeing. An inspiring and eloquent communicator, Tianyi has appeared in and hosted Welsh National Opera's Podcast The O Word, has spoken as a guest for London Marathon Events and the Do More Good Podcast, and conducted and hosted Ears Wide Open concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra

Tianyi completed her Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours at the University of Auckland with Uwe Grodd and Karen Grylls, before studying at the University of Melbourne with John Hopkins. In 2015 she completed her Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting with Distinction at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, where she studied with David Jones. 

She has assisted or attended masterclasses with Sir Andrew Davis and Xian Zhang with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Daniele Gatti with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Bernard Haitink with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, and is an alumni of the Hart Institute for Women Conductors at The Dallas Opera. Other teachers and mentors have included Sian Edwards, Carlo Rizzi, Neemi Järvi, Alexander Polyanichko, Kenneth Kiesler, Carlo Montanaro, Eckehard Stier and Alice Farnham.