For Scottish pianist, composer, and recording artist Elaine Yu, music has been far more than a creative outlet—it has been a source of healing, resilience, and purpose. Inspired by legendary classical pianists from a young age, Yu transformed a childhood passion into a flourishing career that has seen her secure funding from The King’s Trust, release her debut album My Journey and EP Timeless, surpass 100,000 YouTube subscribers, and earn radio airplay and playlist recognition around the world.After facing significant personal and health challenges that ultimately redirected her professional path, Yu embraced music as both a lifelong calling and a means of personal growth. Drawing inspiration from classical masters including Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, and Mozart, while incorporating elements of film music and contemporary classical crossover, she continues to develop a distinctive artistic identity that resonates with audiences across multiple platforms.

When did you discover your love for your craft and what made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in it?

I started learning piano at six and half but really got into it when I was 11 when my dad showed me YouTube videos of piano prodigies. After I had a mental health issue in 2018-2019, during my third year at Aberdeen University studying BSc Geology and Physics, my psychologist told me to pursue a music career instead to help improve my mental health. In 2025, I tried getting back into education for Maths and Physics related career goals but it didn’t work out due to health issues. So I guess music’s here to stay. In a way, it might even be a good thing because I’ve had so much success with my music career so far. This includes obtaining funding for my first album, My Journey, from The King’s Trust, my tracks being played on different radio stations, releasing my first EP, Timeless, and having several playlist curators add my tracks onto their widely-followed playlists and reaching 100,000 subscribers on YouTube.

To what or whom do you accredit your sense of style?

I grew up watching a lot of classical piano prodigies around my age on YouTube. So I would say pianists such as, Charlie Liu, Arthur & Angeni Wang, George and Andrew Li influenced a lot of my musical style. They played a lot of traditional and popular classical pieces from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin. And so those are the composers I studied. For my own compositions, I mainly drew influence from my friend Shane Thomas, who was a rising classical-crossover artist back in the day, and also from film music such as the Artificial Intelligence suite and the Forrest Gump suite. I was also a big fan of Richard Clayderman’s music when I was a teenager so there’s no doubt some of my compositions were influenced by his style as well.

On your current project, how did you come up with the concept?

I wanted to have string quartet arrangements added to my three original compositions that I played for my first album. So I called up my buddy Shane and he came up with the strings sections and programmed it into Logic. He then thought my piano re-recording for The Secrets of the Universe was good enough to be a solo track. So that’s why that track’s in the EP too. Oh and for Summer Winds, Callum Rae and I recorded a single with his vocals in the song as well as my piano playing in it, at his home studio. His band The Correllas added drums and bass guitar to it at the same time. His friend and producer Jim Lang then added strings to the song for completion. I got sent two versions of the song in the end, one with Callum’s vocals and the other without. So after the release of the single, I decided to add the version without onto my new EP so that everything we recorded that day gets released.

What are some of your greatest challenges, and what is your greatest attribute when it comes to your work ethic?

One of my greatest challenges when it comes to my work ethic, would definitely be when I don’t have the motivation to practice piano because I feel uninspired by the reportoire or the musical instrument I’m playing on. I picked up the acoustic guitar because of this and I found that learning a different instrument can sometimes renew a sense of hope in my primary instrument. Another challenge is when people say they’re going to work on music with me and end up not doing it due to sheer dishonesty. I actually hate that in people. Morals are morals and there’s no going back on it. It really affects my mental health and productivity when that happens and I wish people would be more considerate towards others. My greatest attribute is my perseverance. If I like a piece of music, even if it’s way above my level of playing, I will learn it just because I love it. There was a time when I was almost 13 and I wanted to start learning Chopin Fantasie Impromptu but my teacher back then said, no. I learned three lines of the piece by myself to prove to her that I could do it. She had no option but to teach me the rest of the piece because of that and within 6 months I had it all learned and memorized. Another great attribute is my dedication to music even in the face of adversity. I have faced failures and rejections throughout my music journey. And my willingness to recover from it and pick myself back up, even when friends advise me to leave the industry, makes me an undefeatable person. I believe that the last one standing is the survivor and the one that will last in an industry that’s full of false promises and competition. 

Are you the best at what you do in your opinion?

I don’t think I’m the best at what I do. I’ve seen some child prodigy pianists of my time surpass my talent when I was a child. As an adult, I think I am a very good musician but there’s always new things to learn and things to improve on. There’s always going to be people more talented than I am but that’s not gonna stop me from making my mark in the world.

What are your plans for the near future?

My plans include creating an full-length cover album titled, Heritage, and also a full-length composition album titled, Destination. I’m also competing in London this October for Tour Music Fest where I’m representing the UK as one of their pianists in a Europe-wide music competition. I’m really excited for this opportunity and I hope I also get to hang out with Shane the day after the performance. I also want to go on tour around Glasgow or Scotland at some point but I haven’t started planning or saving up for that yet. 

Is there anyone you’d like to thank, any shout outs?

I’d like to thank my parents for letting me having hours and hours of personal space and time to practice music when I was young and even now as an adult. I really appreciate that they don’t mind the repetitive practicing of the same pieces over and over again, day by day, month by month, just to get the pieces perfect. I’d like to thank my former piano teacher, Jemma Brown, for much needed guidance on difficult pieces. And also my current piano teacher, Michael Walker, for teaching me to have patience when learning and not to be so self-critical so quickly. And finally, I’d like to thank all the people who listen to my music on social media and on Spotify! Without them, I wouldn’t have had the success I have now.

How can fans find you?

You can find me on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X all under the username, TheRealElaineYu.

What suggestions do you have for other artist like yourself?

Just keep working hard and being yourself. You never know where your music might take you.