After winning first prize in 2020 at both the Georg Solti International Conductors’ Competition and the Guido Cantelli International Conducting Competition in Italy, Lu was appointed Conductor-in-Residence with the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra in Norway, following a sensational debut there in 2020/21. She is also the Female-Conductor-in-Residence with the Welsh National Opera and Principal Conductor of the St. Woolos Sinfonia in the U.K.  

Recent highlights include concerts and recordings with the Het Residentie Orkest Den Haag, Västerås Sinfonietta, Orquestra Gulbenkian, Philharmonia Orchestra London, Hallé Orchestra Manchester, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonie, and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. A former Dudamel Fellow, in July 2021 Lu made her Hollywood Bowl debut with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and in autumn 2021 conducted performances of Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Aalto-Musiktheater Essen. Lu conducted various concerts with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra as its Assistant Conductor from 2017 to 2019.  

The 2022/2023 season sees Lu making her debut with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, MDR Sinfonieorchester Leipzig, Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg, Orchestra della Toscana, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Madrid, plus return engagements with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, and Seattle Symphony.  

Passionately committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and to building a more empathetic world through the arts, Tianyi Lu is an Artist Ambassador for Opera for Peace. She is regularly invited to work with and speak to communities and institutions about her experiences in empowering leadership, transforming cultures, resilience, and well-being. She 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 Lu completed her Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting with Distinction at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2015, studying with David Jones. She has assisted in or attended master classes with Andrew Davis and Xian Zhang with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Daniele Gatti with the Concertgebouworkest, and Bernard Haitink with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, and is an alumna of the Hart Institute for Women Conductors at the Dallas Opera. Other teachers and mentors have included Sian Edwards, Carlo Rizzi, Neemi Järvi, Alexander Polianichko, Kenneth Kiesler, Carlo Montanaro, and Alice Farnham.