[1][circular reference] He is a Professor of Architecture in the College of Arts, Media and Design at the Northeastern University, a fourth generation Mei’an School guqin player, and the founder of North America Mei'an Society (北美梅庵琴社).
His current research projects include case studies of historic streets in China and the role they played in the modernization of Chinese cities, architecture and urbanism of Beijing, and literati gardens of the Ming-Qing dynasties, and a new theory and method of qin music to be published by the prestigious Zhonghua Book Company.
Yu's research projects are mostly case studies aiming for the demystification of a specific historical site, issue, or phenomenon, and highlight the significance, nature, and problem of cross-cultural translation of architectural forms, practices, and theories.
[3] His fingering-centered etude writing aims to systematize experience-based guqin education and his composition explores new possibilities rooted in the Chinese musical traditions.
[4] Prof. Yu has also published three albums on improvisation and extemporisation on the qin, which are The Pure Sound of Mountain and Water 【山水清音】(2009), The Vibrant Rhythm of Ancient Heroes 【長虹古韻】(2012) and The Utopia Empathy of Past and Present 【一契落英】(2017) respectively.