Praised for her “breathtaking” meticulous technique and expressiveness by the Washington Post, New York-based pipa (Chinese lute) soloist Zhou Yi was born in Shanghai, China. At the age of five, Zhou Yi was discovered in kindergarten by a Chinese instrumentalist talent scout, Yuanlong Cao. Zhou Yi gave her first public recital at six. She continued training for two years on the pipa before enrolling in the elementary school of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, one of China's premier music schools. During her time in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, her mentors include Zupei Zhang, Zhongle Wei, Ya Dong, Shuhong Dai, Youren Lin and Xuran Ye.

As a concert soloist, some of her highlight performances and concerto repertoire include: Tan Dun’s Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig Germany; Young People’s Concert with the New York Philharmonic; Bun-Ching Lam’s Song of the Pipa with the Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra; Zuqiang Wu’s Sisters of the Grassland with the Ohio Youngstown Symphony Orchestra; Shih-Hui Chen’s Jin (Metal) for pipa and orchestra; Bright Sheng’s Three Songs for Violoncello and Pipa; Chen Yi’s Points and Ancient Dances for pipa and percussion; Zhou Long’s Green for flute and pipa; Victoria Bond’s Bridges for erhu, pipa and two clarinets; Bingyang Li’s Snow of June for mixed ensemble (world premiere at Carnegie Hall); Thomas Reiner's Sweet Spots for double bass clarinet, pipa and orchestra (world premiere in Alaska CrossSound Music Festival). Zhou Yi also collaborated with young Chinese composers’ premiere works in various styles, such as: Dongqing Fang’s Drunken Master for piano, cello and pipa (North America premiere, Carnegie Hall); Xinyan Li’s Dunhuang Lovers for flute, cello and pipa (world premiere, Carnegie Hall); Jianbing Hu’s Fine Sound from Tianzhu for pipa and cello (world premiere, NEC Jordan Hall); Angel Lam’s theatrical work, Lost in Shanghai (world premiere, National Sawdust); Qian Zhou’s Qu Shui Ming Yun (Sounds from the Winding Water) for qin and electronic (world premiere, Mata Festival); Du Yun’s Kung Fu (The Bruce Lee Story) soundtrack for David Henry Huang’s off-broadway production (world premiere).

Zhou Yi’s other guest appearances in operatic and festival productions are: guest qin artist in Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber (San Francisco Opera); guest pipa and qin artist in Huang Ruo’s Paradise Interrupted (Lincoln Center Festival) and Dr. Sun Yat-sen (Santa Fe Opera); Chen Shi-Zheng’s the Peony Pavilion, the Orphan of Zhao and Ghost Lovers with the Lincoln Center Festival; Bun-Ching Lam’s Wen Ji - Eighteen Songs of Nomad Flute with the New York Asia Society; the Shen Wei Dance Arts’ Second Visit to the Empress with the American Dance Festival; the Bowling Green New Music & Art Festival.