Since 2010, Delia Stevens and Le Yu have made it their mission to redefine the art of percussion.
Winners of the 60th edition of the prestigious Royal Overseas League Ensemble Award in 2012 and alumni of the Park Lane Group Young Artist Scheme, Aurora have since received invitations to perform at the Wigmore Hall, Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, The Bridgewater Hall, The Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall and Purcell Room, as well as the Edinburgh Festival (live on BBC Radio 3), the Lucerne Festival and for the Royal Family. The duo has undertaken three sell-out tours of China, giving performances and masterclasses in some of the country’s most prestigious concert halls and conservatoires.
Described as ‘superb’ by the Financial Times and ‘extraordinary’ by Classical Source, Aurora Percussion Duo produce adrenaline-fueled concert performances which are visually spectacular, physically demanding and presented with the artistry of dedicated chamber musicians. Aurora concert programmes present a vast repertoire of music spanning centuries from Bach to the present day, whilst exploring instruments from the five-octave marimba to the humble egg shaker.
Aurora are constantly expanding the repertoire for percussion duo and continue to commission established and upcoming composers to write for them such as Graham Fitkin, Adam Gorb and Andy Scott. They also create their own arrangements of works by more familiar composers such as Rimsky-Korsakov, Piazzolla and Bach, whilst exploring the explosive virtuosity and innovation belonging to the core percussion duo literature.
Following a sabbatical, Aurora made a return to the concert platform in March 2017 alongside pianists Kathryn Stott and Jeremy Young for a performance of the Bartok Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion at the RNCM Chamber Music Festival and have since given a 15-date tour of China. Performance highlights include the 2019 and 2020 Bridgewater Hall Manchester Midday Concert Series, the Cambridge Music Festival, Swaledale Festival and the duo were delighted to return to their roots to headline as the evening concert Guest Artists at the RNCM Day of Percussion. 2022 saw them as headline guest artists at the prestigious Ivana Bilic Summer Marimba Festival in Croatia as well as performances around the UK.
In 2023 they look forward to touring China in July, following on from their debut at Music in the Summer Air Festival (MISA) and performing at the Petworth Festival in the UK.
“You will go a very long way before you find an ensemble like this one.”
Delia Stevens
Delia Stevens is an award-winning percussionist who has achieved remarkable success in many fields. As a soloist, she has appeared at the Wigmore Hall and the BBC Proms, as well as multiple tours with orchestras across Europe performing Avner Dorman’s percussion concerto Frozen in Time. She is the co-founder of the renowned world music band, Kabantu who also won the Royal Over-Seas League Ensemble Prize and give up to 50 concerts a year around the UK and beyond. Delia is also a Senior Lecturer in Percussion at the Leeds College of Music and a percussion tutor for the National Children’s Orchestra of Great Britain.
Le Yu
Le Yu began his percussion studies at the Xi’an Conservatory of Music in China. He was awarded the International Artist Diploma from the Royal Northern College of Music in 2013. He has performed extensively across the UK, China and Mexico and is a Yamaha Artist. Leo has given solo performances at The Bridgewater Hall, KKL Lucerne, Yamaha Hall (Tokyo), Xi'an Concert Hall, Palacio de Bellas Artes and the Royal Festival Hall. He is currently a Deputy Director of Percussion at the RNCM and a tutor in marimba at the Chetham’s School of Music.