Wu Han (Pianist)
Encyclopedia
Wu Han is a Chinese-American pianist
, and influential figure in the classical music
world. Leading an unusually multifaceted career, she has risen to international prominence through her wide-ranging activities as a concert performer, recording artist, educator, arts administrator, and cultural entrepreneur
. She is currently the co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Music@Menlo
.
at the age of nine. Within a few year, she had captured first prizes in all of Taiwan's major competitions. At the invitation of The Hartt School in Connecticut, she traveled to America in 1981 to continue her studies. Wu Han studied with Raymond Hanson, Rudolf Serkin
, Herbert Stessin, Lillian Kallir, and Menahem Pressler
and attended the Marlboro Music School and Festival
for two summers. She has gone on to perform on the world's leading stages including Carnegie Hall
, Lincoln Center, Washington's Kennedy Center, and Wigmore Hall
in London. Wu Han collaborates with wide array of artists and ensembles including the Borromeo String Quartet
, Emerson String Quartet
, and St. Lawrence Quartet
.
Wu Han performs and records frequently in collaboration with cellist David Finckel
, whom she married in 1985. Since the 1990s, the two artists have toured widely year-round and have emerged as one of the most popular cello-piano duos on the musical scene today. Notable duo concerts include their performances of the complete Beethoven cycle in Tokyo
and New York
. Wu Han and David Finckel regularly perform on all of the major chamber music series in the United States
, as well as across Europe
and Asia
. They also appear regularly in trio performances with violinist Philip Setzer.
In recent years, Wu Han's repertoire has expanded to include numerous works by a cadre of leading composers. Works have been commissioned for and dedicated to the duo from Bruce Adolphe
, Lera Auerbach
, Gabriella Lena Frank, Pierre Jalbert, Augusta Read Thomas
,and George Tsontakis
.
's first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, whose catalog of thirteen albums has won widespread acclaim. BBC Music Magazine saluted the launch by featuring the company's debut album on the cover of its January 1997 issue. WU Han is a controlling participant in every aspect of the recording process, from selecting the repertoire and recording venue to setting the sound, runnign the sessions, constructing the edits, and determining the final mix. ArtistLed's Grammy-award winning recording engineer is Da-Hong Seetoo
.
, an annual chamber music festival and institute in Silicon Valley
that brings to the San Francisco Bay are a lineup of accomplished musicians, scholars, educators, and musicologists, as well as a roster of gifted young artists, for an immersive three-week chamber music experience in the summer. Wu Han was also responsible for forging a media partnership with American Public Media
, which serves as the exclusive broadcast partner of Music@Menlo
. Music@Menlo
is currently to embark on its 9th sold out season featuring over 70 events. In 2012, Music@Menlo
will celebrate its 10th anniversary.
Wu Han was instrumental in the formation of Music@Menlo’s innovative live recording series, Music@Menlo LIVE, which commercially releases live recordings from the festival each year. The label was launched in 2004 and has been praised as “probably the most ambitious recording project of any classical music festival in the world” (San Jose Mercury News). In 2002, Wu Han developed and trademarked AudioNotes, an innovative compliment to program notes. The CD-based pre-concert listener guides are designed to offer audiences engaging introductions to many of the concert programs she has presented over the years.
in New York City
, where she currently presents some 200 concerts, lectures, master classes, and outreach events each season. The Chamber Music Society is recognized among the most important leaders in the field of chamber music in North America. In her capacity as Artistic Director, Wu Han spearheads the Society’s education initiatives, training program for outstanding young artists, new music commissioning program, national radio broadcasts, and nationwide touring. In this capacity, she has become recognized for having revitalized the organization via numerous programming initiatives. In 2010, Wu Han was invited to extend her appointment for a second five-year term. Wu Han also oversees The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's national and international tours and successful residencies.
In 2004, Wu Han created the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo
. The Institute offers a rigorous professional training ground and a wide array of performance opportunities to gifted young musicians who have been selected from conservatories, youth orchestras, and music programs nationally and internationally.
In 2009, under the auspices of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
, Wu Han established a chamber music training workshops for young artists in Korea and Taiwan, intensive residency programs designed to bring student musicians into contact with an elite faculty of artists including pianist Leon Fleisher and violinist Arnold Steinhardt.
As Co-Artistic Director of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Wu Han has been instrumental in the expansion of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's CMS Two program that invites outstanding young musicians from around the world through audition to join the CMS artist roster for an extended residency that includes both performance and educational outreach opportunities. Under her leadership, the residency program has expanded from two to three years, and she greatly increased the level of participation of these young artists.
Wu Han has presented master classes at venerable institutions throughout the world, and for many years, taught alongside the late Isaac Stern
at Carnegie Hall
and the Jerusalem Music Centre
. She has also served as a member of the Artist-Faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School
for many years, and in various educational outreach programs across the country.
, The New York Times
, Los Angeles Times
, San Francisco Chronicle
, Toronto Star
, New York Newsday, The Mercury News, Billboard
, The Strad, BBC Music Magazine
, Time Out London, and Tokyo’s Ongaku-no-Tomo. On television, she has appeared on NBC Nightly News
, A&E Network
’s Breakfast with the Arts, Channel 13’s New York Voices, CNN
’s Turner Entertainment Report and European Business News. She has also been a frequent guest on American Public Media
’s Performance Today, Saint Paul Sunday
, and other popular classical radio programs.
with her husband, David Finckel
and their seventeen year old daughter.
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, and influential figure in the classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
world. Leading an unusually multifaceted career, she has risen to international prominence through her wide-ranging activities as a concert performer, recording artist, educator, arts administrator, and cultural entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. She is currently the co-Artistic Director of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo is an annual summer chamber music festival in San Francisco, California. The festival was founded in 2003 by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. American Public Media says that "Music@Menlo has rapidly become one of the world's top-tier chamber music festivals due to the quality...
.
Career
Wu Han began her musical studies in TaiwanTaiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
at the age of nine. Within a few year, she had captured first prizes in all of Taiwan's major competitions. At the invitation of The Hartt School in Connecticut, she traveled to America in 1981 to continue her studies. Wu Han studied with Raymond Hanson, Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin
Rudolf Serkin , was a Bohemian-born pianist.-Life and early career:Serkin was born in Eger, Bohemia, Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Russian-Jewish family....
, Herbert Stessin, Lillian Kallir, and Menahem Pressler
Menahem Pressler
Menahem Pressler is a German-born American pianist, founding member of the Beaux Arts Trio.-Professional career:...
and attended the Marlboro Music School and Festival
Marlboro Music School and Festival
The Marlboro Music School and Festival is a retreat for advanced classical training and musicianship held for seven weeks each summer in Marlboro, Vermont...
for two summers. She has gone on to perform on the world's leading stages including Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, Lincoln Center, Washington's Kennedy Center, and Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall
Wigmore Hall is a leading international recital venue that specialises in hosting performances of chamber music and is best known for classical recitals of piano, song and instrumental music. It is located at 36 Wigmore Street, London, UK and was built to provide London with a venue that was both...
in London. Wu Han collaborates with wide array of artists and ensembles including the Borromeo String Quartet
Borromeo String Quartet
The Borromeo String Quartet is an American string quartet, in residence at the New England Conservatory since 1992. They have performed throughout North and South America, Europe, and Asia, at numerous festivals and in many distinguished chamber music series...
, Emerson String Quartet
Emerson String Quartet
The Emerson String Quartet is a New York–based string quartet in residence at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Previously the Quartet was in residence at The Hartt School. Formed in 1976, they have released more than twenty albums and won nine Grammy Awards. Both violinists...
, and St. Lawrence Quartet
St. Lawrence Quartet
The St. Lawrence Quartet is a Canadian string quartet, and one of Canada's premiere chamber ensembles. It was founded in 1989 and has served residencies at the Juilliard School, Yale University, the University of Toronto, the Hartt School, and Stanford University...
.
Wu Han performs and records frequently in collaboration with cellist David Finckel
David Finckel
David Finckel is an American cellist and influential figure in the classical music world. He is currently the cellist of the Emerson String Quartet, co-Artistic Director of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, founder and co-Artistic Director of Music@Menlo, and Visiting Professor of Music...
, whom she married in 1985. Since the 1990s, the two artists have toured widely year-round and have emerged as one of the most popular cello-piano duos on the musical scene today. Notable duo concerts include their performances of the complete Beethoven cycle in Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Wu Han and David Finckel regularly perform on all of the major chamber music series in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, as well as across Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
. They also appear regularly in trio performances with violinist Philip Setzer.
In recent years, Wu Han's repertoire has expanded to include numerous works by a cadre of leading composers. Works have been commissioned for and dedicated to the duo from Bruce Adolphe
Bruce Adolphe
Bruce Adolphe is a U.S. composer and music scholar, the author of several books on music, and pianist. His current positions include Resident Lecturer and Director of Family Concerts of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and founder and creative director of The Learning Maestros,...
, Lera Auerbach
Lera Auerbach
Lera Auerbach is a Russian-born American composer and pianist.-Early life & education:Auerbach was born in Chelyabinsk, a city in the Urals bordering Siberia. She holds degrees in piano and composition from The Juilliard School, where she studied piano with Joseph Kalichstein and composition...
, Gabriella Lena Frank, Pierre Jalbert, Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas
Augusta Read Thomas is an American composer.Augusta Read Thomas was born in Glen Cove, New York. She attended The Green Vale School and later moved on to St. Paul's School in Concord, New Hampshire, and then studied composition with Jacob Druckman at Yale University and at the Royal Academy of...
,and George Tsontakis
George Tsontakis
George Tsontakis is an American composer and conductor.Tsontakis studied composition with Hugo Weisgall and Roger Sessions at the Juilliard School from 1974 to 1978, and later with Franco Donatoni at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome...
.
ArtistLed
In addition to her distinction as an accomplished performer, Wu Han has established a reputation for her dynamic and innovative approach to the recording studio. In 1997, Wu Han and David Finckel launched ArtistLed, classical musicClassical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
's first musician-directed and Internet-based recording company, whose catalog of thirteen albums has won widespread acclaim. BBC Music Magazine saluted the launch by featuring the company's debut album on the cover of its January 1997 issue. WU Han is a controlling participant in every aspect of the recording process, from selecting the repertoire and recording venue to setting the sound, runnign the sessions, constructing the edits, and determining the final mix. ArtistLed's Grammy-award winning recording engineer is Da-Hong Seetoo
Da-Hong Seetoo
Da-Hong Seetoo is a classical record producer and recording engineer. He has worked with the Emerson String Quartet since the early 1980s and has won several Grammy Awards for his recordings.- Awards :...
.
Music@Menlo
In 2003, Wu Han co-founded Music@MenloMusic@Menlo
Music@Menlo is an annual summer chamber music festival in San Francisco, California. The festival was founded in 2003 by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. American Public Media says that "Music@Menlo has rapidly become one of the world's top-tier chamber music festivals due to the quality...
, an annual chamber music festival and institute in Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
that brings to the San Francisco Bay are a lineup of accomplished musicians, scholars, educators, and musicologists, as well as a roster of gifted young artists, for an immersive three-week chamber music experience in the summer. Wu Han was also responsible for forging a media partnership with American Public Media
American Public Media
American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
, which serves as the exclusive broadcast partner of Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo is an annual summer chamber music festival in San Francisco, California. The festival was founded in 2003 by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. American Public Media says that "Music@Menlo has rapidly become one of the world's top-tier chamber music festivals due to the quality...
. Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo is an annual summer chamber music festival in San Francisco, California. The festival was founded in 2003 by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. American Public Media says that "Music@Menlo has rapidly become one of the world's top-tier chamber music festivals due to the quality...
is currently to embark on its 9th sold out season featuring over 70 events. In 2012, Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo is an annual summer chamber music festival in San Francisco, California. The festival was founded in 2003 by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. American Public Media says that "Music@Menlo has rapidly become one of the world's top-tier chamber music festivals due to the quality...
will celebrate its 10th anniversary.
Wu Han was instrumental in the formation of Music@Menlo’s innovative live recording series, Music@Menlo LIVE, which commercially releases live recordings from the festival each year. The label was launched in 2004 and has been praised as “probably the most ambitious recording project of any classical music festival in the world” (San Jose Mercury News). In 2002, Wu Han developed and trademarked AudioNotes, an innovative compliment to program notes. The CD-based pre-concert listener guides are designed to offer audiences engaging introductions to many of the concert programs she has presented over the years.
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
In 2004, Wu Han was appointed Co-Artistic Director of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln CenterThe Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Its website states that it is "the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music."...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where she currently presents some 200 concerts, lectures, master classes, and outreach events each season. The Chamber Music Society is recognized among the most important leaders in the field of chamber music in North America. In her capacity as Artistic Director, Wu Han spearheads the Society’s education initiatives, training program for outstanding young artists, new music commissioning program, national radio broadcasts, and nationwide touring. In this capacity, she has become recognized for having revitalized the organization via numerous programming initiatives. In 2010, Wu Han was invited to extend her appointment for a second five-year term. Wu Han also oversees The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's national and international tours and successful residencies.
Teaching
Wu Han’s fervent commitment to nurturing the careers of countless young artists has led her to take on an array of education initiatives.In 2004, Wu Han created the Chamber Music Institute at Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo
Music@Menlo is an annual summer chamber music festival in San Francisco, California. The festival was founded in 2003 by cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han. American Public Media says that "Music@Menlo has rapidly become one of the world's top-tier chamber music festivals due to the quality...
. The Institute offers a rigorous professional training ground and a wide array of performance opportunities to gifted young musicians who have been selected from conservatories, youth orchestras, and music programs nationally and internationally.
In 2009, under the auspices of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Its website states that it is "the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music."...
, Wu Han established a chamber music training workshops for young artists in Korea and Taiwan, intensive residency programs designed to bring student musicians into contact with an elite faculty of artists including pianist Leon Fleisher and violinist Arnold Steinhardt.
As Co-Artistic Director of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Wu Han has been instrumental in the expansion of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's CMS Two program that invites outstanding young musicians from around the world through audition to join the CMS artist roster for an extended residency that includes both performance and educational outreach opportunities. Under her leadership, the residency program has expanded from two to three years, and she greatly increased the level of participation of these young artists.
Wu Han has presented master classes at venerable institutions throughout the world, and for many years, taught alongside the late Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
and the Jerusalem Music Centre
Jerusalem Music Centre
The Jerusalem Music Centre is an institute for musical education in Mishkenot Sha’ananim, Jerusalem, Israel. The centre helps young Israeli musicians to develop their talents through multi-annual programs and courses, master classes, and performances...
. She has also served as a member of the Artist-Faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School
Aspen Music Festival and School
The Aspen Music Festival and School, founded in 1949, is an internationally renowned classical music festival that presents music in an intimate, small-town setting...
for many years, and in various educational outreach programs across the country.
Media
Wu Han has been the subject of numerous articles around the globe in publications including The Wall Street JournalThe Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
, New York Newsday, The Mercury News, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
, The Strad, BBC Music Magazine
BBC music magazine
BBC Music Magazine is a magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom by BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC. Reflecting the broadcast output of BBC Radio 3, the magazine is devoted primarily to classical music, though with sections on jazz and world music. Each edition comes...
, Time Out London, and Tokyo’s Ongaku-no-Tomo. On television, she has appeared on NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News
NBC Nightly News is the flagship daily evening television news program for NBC News and broadcasts. NBC Nightly News has aired from Studio 3B, located on floors 3 of the NBC Studios is the headquarters of the GE Building forms the centerpiece of 30th Rockefeller Center it is located in the center...
, A&E Network
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
’s Breakfast with the Arts, Channel 13’s New York Voices, CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
’s Turner Entertainment Report and European Business News. She has also been a frequent guest on American Public Media
American Public Media
American Public Media is the second largest producer of public radio programs in the United States of America after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and operates radio stations in Minnesota, California, and Florida. Its station brands are Minnesota Public Radio,...
’s Performance Today, Saint Paul Sunday
Saint Paul Sunday
Saint Paul Sunday is a Peabody Award-winning weekly classical music radio program, hosted by Bill McGlaughlin. It is America's most widely listened to weekly classical music program produced by public radio, and airs on approximately 200 stations nationwide. Programs since 1997 are also available...
, and other popular classical radio programs.
Personal
Wu Han resides in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with her husband, David Finckel
David Finckel
David Finckel is an American cellist and influential figure in the classical music world. He is currently the cellist of the Emerson String Quartet, co-Artistic Director of The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, founder and co-Artistic Director of Music@Menlo, and Visiting Professor of Music...
and their seventeen year old daughter.
Discography
- For David and Wu Han (contemporary works composed for David Finckel and Wu Han)
- Schubert Trios with violinist Philip Setzer
- Derek Han plays Mozart with Wu Han, Peter Asimov and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- Russian Recital (featuring solo piano works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Skryabin)
- Brahms Sonatas for Cello and Piano and Six Pieces for Solo Piano
- Schubert Sonata for Piano D. 959 and Sonata for Arpeggione and Piano D. 821
- Complete Beethoven Sonatas and Variations for Cello and Piano
- Russian Classics (works for cello and piano by Rachmaninov, Shostakovich, and Prokofiev)
- Sonatas for Cello and Piano by Grieg and Chopin
- Sonatas for Cello and Piano by Strauss and Franck
- Tchaikovsky Trio and Kodály Duo with violinist Da-Hong Seetoo
- Edwin Finckel: Complete Works for Cello and Piano
- CMS Studio Recordings: Elgar and Walton
- CMS Studio Recordings: Beethoven and Dvořák
- DG Concerts: Bartok/Dvořák