Chu-Yu Yang (violin) and Eric McElroy (piano)

Chu-Yu Yang violin
Eric McElroy piano

Ireland Cavatina and The Holy Boy
Vaughan Williams Romance and Pastorale
Ireland Bagatelle
Matthews Variations for Violin and Piano on a Song by Roger Scruton
Howells Violin Sonata 

Taiwanese violinist Chu-Yu (Joe) Yang is one of his generation’s premier interpreters of British chamber music. His performances are praised for their "sophisticated lyricism" (The Strad) and ‘‘glowing warmth’’ (Gramophone). A seasoned orchestral musician, Joe is a proud member of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic. He also performs regularly with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

Joe is a doctoral candidate at the Royal Academy of Music under the supervision of Dr Jonathan Clinch and legendary violinist Rodney Friend. His research focuses on the performance history of violin music in the English Pastoral School. Joe earned his Master’s and Postgraduate Diploma from the Royal Academy of Music and his Bachelor’s from Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. He is the winner of the Birmingham Philharmonic Orchestra Concerto Prize and the Sylvia Cleaver Chamber Music Prize scholarship. Joe was awarded a full scholarship, Leverhulme scholarship, and Meher Rohi Gazder scholarship at the Royal Academy of Music. In 2022, Joe was appointed the Far East Representative of the Arthur Bliss Society, and he was elected the Taiwan Correspondent of the Gustav Holst Society in 2023. Joe’s debut-CD, An English Pastoral, was released to international acclaim by SOMM Recordings in 2025.

Described as “one of the leading composer-pianists of his generation” (Musical Opinion), Eric McElroy has performed throughout North America and Europe and been praised for both his “stunning virtuosity” (Seen and Heard International) and “intellect with flair” (BBC Music Magazine). A prolific composer, his works have been performed in Germany, Austria, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Eric’s 2023 debut-CD, Tongues of Fire (SOMM Recordings), features his own song-cycles as performed by himself and the distinguished tenor James Gilchrist and was released to critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic. His CD of unpublished songs by Ivor Gurney with baritone Marcus Farnsworth was released by Naxos in October 2024, followed by An English Pastoral from SOMM with violinist Chu-Yu Yang in 2025. Further CDs are forthcoming from SOMM in 2027.

Eric holds degrees in piano performance from Washington State University, Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien, and Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. In 2023, he completed his doctorate in musicology at the University of Oxford. Eric is a trustee of the Sir Arnold Bax Society. His book on composer John Ireland and author Arthur Machen, Weird Music, was published by Boydell & Brewer in 2026. (www.ericmcelroy.co.uk)

Running time approx. 55 minutes