Dr. Chang Lu is both an active musician and dedicated instructor based in Los Angeles. Growing up in a family of musicians, she was introduced to the piano at the young age of four and the flute at nine. Having attended elementary, middle, and high schools attached to a music conservatory, she has been a professionally trained musician from a young age.
Dr. Lu graduated with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the USC Thornton School of Music in flute performance, studying with Jim Walker, former Los Angeles Philharmonic principal flutist, and Gary Woodward, former Los Angeles Opera principal flutist. She also earned minor degrees in Music Theory, Orchestral Conducting, and Early Music Baroque Flute Performance.
Her flute performances have contributed to numerous Hollywood movie soundtracks, including the Emmy-nominated Netflix show "Chef’s Table." She has performed at the Coachella Music Festival and Walt Disney Concert Hall and served as the principal flutist with several orchestras, such as the Orchestra, Hollywood Sinfonietta, and Los Angeles Sinfonietta.
Dr. Lu’s teaching experience is extensive and multifaceted. She served as a teaching assistant at USC, helping numerous undergraduate and graduate music minor and non-major flute students prepare for orchestral and school auditions, develop confidence in performing, explore and achieve their short- and long-term goals, and guide them through their artistic visions and concepts. She was also the music director and conductor of the West Los Angeles Youth Symphony and the assistant music director at Sinai Akiba Academy. In 2019, Dr. Lu founded the Los Angeles International Music Center, organizing several international music festivals in Los Angeles and Beijing, collaborating with music educators from Asia, North and South America, and Europe.
Dr. Lu maintains a distinguished private flute/piccolo studio. Her students’ recent accomplishments include winning first prize and the Rising Star Scholarship in the San Diego Flute Guild Competition, first prizes in the Southwestern Youth Music Festival (SYMF) competition, first prize in the Hayfield Conservatory Concerto Competition, and music scholarships from the Los Angeles City Elementary Schools Music Association. Her students have been accepted into prestigious institutions such as the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, University of Redlands, Berklee College of Music, Harvard University, and Columbia University, among others.
Currently, Dr. Lu is the faculty at the Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA), where she teaches flute masterclasses, advanced music theory, and chamber music.