Born in Banciao, Taiwan, Chiayu is an active composer of contemporary concert music. Chiayu has been interested in deriving inspirations from different materials, such as poems, myths, and images. Particularly, however, it is the combination of Chinese elements and western techniques that is a hallmark of her music. Chiayu's music has been recognized with awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Zodiac trio, Kaleidoscopes and Elevate ensembles, the Copland House, IAWM, Suzanne and Lee Ettelson Composer's Awards, KH Tan Competition, Lynn University, music+culture (2009 International Competition), the Sorel Organization (2nd International Medallion Choral Composition Competition and recording grant), the International Harp Society (7th USA International Harp Composition Competition), ASCAP (Morton Gould Young Composer Awards), the Maxfield Parrish Composition Contest, and the Renée B. Fisher Foundation, among others. Her orchestral works have been performed by the London Sinfonietta, the Detroit, the San Francisco, the Spokane, the Toledo Symphony Orchestras, the Nashville Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan. Chamber works have appeared on programs of the Aspen Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble, the Boston New Music Initiative, Kaleidoscope, Ciompi Quartet, Left Coast Ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, and Prism Quartet.

Currently an associate professor at UW-Eau Claire, Chiayu received her Bachelor of Music from the Curtis Institute of Music, Master's degree and Artist Diploma from Yale University and Ph.D. at Duke University. She has also studied at the Banff Centre for the Arts, the Chamber Music Conference and Composers' Forum of the East, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Aspen Music Festival, Fontainebleau Schools, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. She also attended residency at the Copland House, the Dora Maar House, the Camargo Foundation, Wildacres Retreat, and Yaddo and presented her music at the international and national conferences of the College Music Society, Women Composers Festival of Hartford, the IAWM 20th Anniversary Congress, the SCI National Conference, the FSU Festival of New Music, the Kingston Chamber Music Festival, the Composers Inc., the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference, the American Philosophical Society, Music by Women Festival, the WMTA conference, and the International Double Reed Society Conference, among others. Her teachers included Jennifer Higdon, David Loeb, Roberto Sierra, Ezra Laderman, Martin Bresnick, Anthony Kelley, Scott Lindroth, and Stephen Jaffe.

More information on her music is available at http://www.chiayuhsu.com