Born in China, Yamei Yu has won renowned competitions including the Tibor Varga Competition, the Leopold Mozart Competition, the Louis Spohr Competition and the ARD International Music Competition.

International concert and solo recital engagements have brought Yamei Yu to festivals such as the Richard Strauss Festival, Schubertiade Schwarzenberg, Figueres/Barcelona, Roskilde (Denmark), Berliner Festwochen, Ravinia Festival Chicago, Leipziger Bachfest, Stuttgarter Bachwochen, Ludwigsburger Festspiele, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Musik Festival, Salzburg Festival, Festival van Vlaanderen, Stavanger and Oslo Chamber Music Festival, and Festival Crete Senesi (Italy).

She has performed at renowned venues including the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Concerthall Bilbao, Berliner Philharmonie, Herkulessaal Munich, Wiener Konzerthaus, Wigmore Hall London, Auditorio Nacional de Madrid, and Palau de la Música in Valencia.

Yamei Yu was principal concertmaster of the Komische Oper Berlin and the Bavarian State Opera in Munich. She has worked with conductors such as Zubin Mehta, Herbert Blomstedt, Kirill Petrenko, Kurt Masur, Christoph Eschenbach, Kent Nagano, Vladimir Jurowski, Semyon Bychkov, Gustavo Dudamel, Roger Norrington, and Wolfgang Sawallisch.

As a chamber musician, Yamei Yu has collaborated with artists including Gidon Kremer, Thomas Hampson, Gérard Caussé, Boris Pergamenschikow, Hariolf Schlichtig, Radovan Vladkovic, the Rosamunde String Quartet, the Leipziger String Quartet, and the Vermeer String Quartet. She was the violinist of the Piano Trio Parnassus, which received the Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2007, the Klassik Echo 2008, and a nomination for the BBC Award 2009.

Yamei Yu holds a professorship of violin at the Robert Schumann Hochschule in Düsseldorf, Germany. She regularly gives masterclasses worldwide and has been invited as a jury member at numerous international violin competitions. She plays on a beautiful Goffriller violin.