Zhang Yu (于璋) is a distinguished suona (Chinese double-reed horn) performer. He graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in 1986 and, in the same year, joined the China National Traditional Orchestra as a principal soprano suona performer and soloist.
He is a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and serves as a judge for the National Chinese Musical Instrument Performance Grading Committee under the Chinese National Orchestral Society.
Throughout his career, Yu has recorded soundtrack music for numerous films and television dramas, performing on both the suona and the saxophone. Between 1982 and 1999, he toured extensively with the Central Conservatory of Music and the China National Traditional Orchestra, performing in more than twenty countries, including the United States, the Netherlands, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, and Japan.
Yu immigrated to the United States in 1999 and joined Firebird in 2001. In addition to teaching the suona, he has also taught the dizi (Chinese bamboo flute), flute, and saxophone in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he has trained many outstanding students.