Joy Lu is a musician, researcher, ensemble director, conductor, music teacher, and language educator. She holds a Ph.D. in Ethnomusicology from Wesleyan University, an M.A. in Ethnomusicology from the University of Sheffield, U.K., and a B.F.A. in erhu (Chinese two-string fiddle) performance and music education from National Taiwan Normal University, Taiwan. Her research interests include music, gender, national politics, and ethnic identity in Taiwan and China. She has published a music textbook (Music Textbook for Vocational High School, 2006, Kuang Mau Books Co., LTD), erhu music scores, and erhu music albums that have been distributed in Taiwan and China.

Born and raised in Taiwan, Lu has studied erhu since her childhood and was awarded several prizes in erhu and zhonghu (alto erhu) performances. During her college period, Lu began to teach music as well as direct and conduct Chinese music orchestras, Chinese music ensembles, choirs, and recorder ensembles. She has often been invited by schools, communities, and institutions to perform and lecture about Chinese music. Being an active erhu player, Lu has performed in Taiwan, China, England, New Zealand, and the Netherlands, and appeared in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Yale University, Boston College, and other venues in the U.S. Lu has been directing Wesleyan Chinese Music Ensemble for over a decade. In 2020, she helped to establish the Smith College Chinese Music Ensemble and has served as its music director since then. Lu has always been interested in combining Chinese music with other music traditions. She has played erhu with Javanese gamelan, jazz, klezmer, classical music, Taiwanese opera, etc. Besides continuing to strengthen her knowledge of traditional Chinese and Taiwanese music and introducing them to the broader community, Lu welcomes every opportunity to challenge her musical ability and experiment with different types of artistic disciplines.