Yoyo Wu is a gifted high school musician from San Diego, California, recognized for her exceptional versatility on marimba, percussion, and piano. Featured in the San Diego Union-Tribune, Yoyo began her musical journey at the age of five with piano before expanding her artistry to include percussion and marimba, where she continues to captivate audiences with her expressive performances.
Yoyo is a 2026 YoungArts Winner with Distinction in Classical Music/Percussion, an honor awarded to a select group of young artists nationwide, and is invited to participate and perform at the Nation YoungArts Week in Miami in January 2026. She was also selected for the National Public Ration (NPR) program From the Top, and recorded a broadcast in November 2025, which will air on NPR in the near future. Over the summer of 2025, Yoyo was among the outstanding young American musicians in the National Youth Orchestra (NYO2), performing at Carnegie Hall and making their European debut at the Edinburgh International Festival under the baton of Rafael Payare.
In July 2025, she won first place in the high school division of the Great Plains International Marimba Competition as the youngest medalist. In May 2025, she earned recognition as a scholarship winner from the San Diego Musical Merit Foundation. She also won the Best Contemporary Award at the 2025 La Jolla Emerging Artists Competition. Yoyo has also performed twice as a marimba soloist with the San Diego Youth Symphony (SDYS), upon winning first-place honors in concerto competitions, conducted by Sameer Patel in 2025 and Anthony Do-Hoon Kim in 2023.
Alongside her virtuosity on marimba and percussion, Yoyo won first place in the 2023 American Protégé Piano and Strings Competition, earning an invitation to perform piano at Carnegie Hall in December 2023. In 2024, she presented a full piano solo recital, featuring masterworks by Bach, Chopin, and Beethoven. She has received first place and other top honors in numerous competitions, including Music Teachers Association of California (MTAC) Sonata Competition, Concerto Competitions, the Chopin Festival, the Goodlin Scholarship Competition, and more.
Beyond her performance achievements, Yoyo is deeply committed to sharing her love of music with her community. She often offers free performances at local churches and senior living communities, including La Jolla Presbyterian Church, Hope United Methodist Church, Seacrest Village Retirement Communities, and Silvergate Rancho Bernardo Retirement Community. Furthermore, since 2023, she has led the Carmel Valley Summer Symphony (CVSS), a student-run nonprofit organization that provides free and accessible music education and performance opportunities to students across San Diego during summer. With approximately 100 students enrolled annually, Yoyo and her team ensure the passion for music reaches far beyond her own performances.
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Local-Teen-Musicians-to-Make-Carnegie-Hall-Debut-已压缩https://www.sdfoundation.org/news-events/sdf-news/san-diego-youth-symphony-shaping-students-lives-through-music (August 12, 2023|By SDF)