Yayu's Biography

Dame Yayu Khoe is a distinguished singer, voice teacher, recording artist and conductor. Currently, Yayu teaches voice and piano from her private music studio in Cedar Rapids, IA. She is also teaching private voice at Kennedy High School and at the Kirkwood Community College. For twenty-five years Yayu has taught private voice and held master classes in New York City, Fort Worth, at the Keller and Birdville School Districts in Texas, and at Texas Woman’s University. In addition to teaching voice, she has sung in major concert halls across the U.S. and in Europe appearing in major music festivals, concerts, operas, cabarets and musicals. These include European concert tour with the legendary drummer Max Roach and his quintet and the Newport Jazz festival at Carnegie Hall with Dizzy Gillespie. Her repertoire is diversified and she is at ease in singing many styles from classical, jazz, Broadway, musical theater, folk to spirituals and religious music in six languages. She is a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing and the American Choral Directors Association. Her solo CD albums were released under the YEA label. They included Love and Faith in 2000; The Art of Yayu Khoe Volume I featuring a collection of western classics and The Art of Yayu Khoe Volume II featuring a collection of Chinese art songs and folk songs in 2003.

Yayu received her M.A. in vocal pedagogy from Texas Woman’s University and was honored by the University as the outstanding master graduate of the year. She received her B.A. from Queens College in New York and had also studied conducting at the Westmister Choir College in Princeton, NJ and the Manhattan School of Music. Her many distinguished teachers included: Joan Wall, John L. Motley, Chung Mou Chu, Ellie Mok and Camilla Williams.

Yayu’s performing experiences began 30 years ago with the Queens Borough-wide Chorus and later the All-City Chorus and the All-City Concert Choir performing in major civic functions in NYC. These include singing as an ambassador representing New York City singing for former President Carter and other foreign dignitaries. Yayu was a major soloist with many music groups in NYC actively appearing in concerts in Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall. She was a soloist with the Grace Congregational Church in Harlem. She had also appeared with numerous opera companies and appeared in major music festivals across the United States. Yayu has appeared as a soloist with several local churches in Cedar Rapids area including the Christ Episcopal Church, Lovely Lane Methodist Church and the First Baptist Church/Church of the Brethren. She is currently the choir director of the First Baptist Church-Church of the Brethren in Cedar Rapids. She had been the choral director of the Good Earth Singers in Arlington Texas, the Chinese Musical Arts-Hai Yun Chorus in New York City, the Little Lark Children’s Chorus in NYC and the Chinese American Music Ensemble in New Jersey. Currently, she is the principal of the Cedar Rapids Chinese School.

Yayu was honored with the title Dame of the Order de Notre Dame De Lis de France of the Bourbon Royal House by the International Nobility Association and the Association of University Presidents for highest distinguished accomplished artist. She was also the recipient of the Tarrant County Asian American Chamber Commerce Outstanding Leadership award. Other prizes and honors received include: professorship and medal of honor from the John Dewey University for outstanding contribution to music ministry in the community; outstanding leadership award from the Fort Worth Naval Base for contributions to the Arts, the C.B. Bellamy Music scholarship from Texas Woman’s University, music scholarships from the New York Daily News, Benjamin Chancy Music Award from the NYC Board of Education, New York Singing Teachers Association vocal competition winner, Granstaff Vocal competition first prize winner.

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