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Wu Han (pianist)

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Wu Han
Wu Han (right) in 2013
Wu Han (right) in 2013
Background information
Born (1959-02-19) February 19, 1959 (age 65)
OriginTaipei, Taiwan
GenresClassical
Occupation(s)Pianist, arts administrator
InstrumentPiano
LabelsArtistLed
Websitewww.davidfinckelandwuhan.com

Wu Han (Chinese: 吳菡; pinyin: Wú Hán; born February 19, 1959) is a Taiwanese-American pianist. Leading a multifaceted career, she has risen to international prominence through her 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 Chamber Music Festival and Institute in California and Co-Founder of ArtistLed. She serves as Artistic Advisor for Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music in the Barns series and the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach. She was appointed Artistic Director of La Musica in 2022[citation needed].

Career

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Wu Han began her musical studies in Taipei, Taiwan, at the age of 9. In addition to the piano, she studied two other instruments, viola and percussion. By age 12, Wu Han was playing concerts, competing and winning competitions. Within a few years, 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 with a double major in viola and piano. 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.[1]

Wu Han 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. She collaborates with a wide array of artists and ensembles including the Borromeo String Quartet, Emerson String Quartet, Escher String Quartet, and St. Lawrence Quartet.

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 Wu Han and cellist David Finckel from Bruce Adolphe, Lera Auerbach, Gabriella Lena Frank, Pierre Jalbert, Augusta Read Thomas, and George Tsontakis, and music by several of these composers is featured on ArtistLed's 'For David and Wu Han' album.

Partnership with David Finckel

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Wu Han frequently collaborates with cellist David Finckel. The two married in 1985.[2] They regularly perform in the chamber music series in the United States, as well as across Europe and Asia. They also appear in trio performances with violinist Philip Setzer and clarinetist David Shifrin, and as a piano quartet with violinist Daniel Hope and violist Paul Neubauer.

In 2002, Wu Han developed and trademarked AudioNotes, an innovative complement to program notes. The listener guides are designed to offer audiences engaging introductions to many of the concert programs presented over the years.

In 2003, Wu Han and Finckel co-founded Music@Menlo, an annual chamber music festival.[2] Alumni of both Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute and internship program have gone on to create and direct more than 30 chamber music organizations worldwide.

The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

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In 2004, Wu Han and Finckel were appointed Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York City.[3][4]

Other Appointments / Artistic Leadership

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The Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts appointed Wu Han as the Artistic Advisor for Chamber Music in the Barns in 2018, and she continues to curate the series today. Wu Han also serves as Artistic Advisor for Classical Music for the Society of the Four Arts in Palm Beach. In 2022, she was appointed as the Artistic Director of La Musica in Sarasota, Florida and was invited to serve on the jury of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Wu Han served as a member of the Artist-Faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School for many years, and in 2013 established The Finckel-Wu Han Chamber Music Studio, which ran for two weeks each summer through 2019.[5]

Media

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Wu Han has been the subject of numerous articles around the globe and has appeared in publications including The Washington Post The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times,[6] Musical America Worldwide, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Toronto Star, New York Newsday, The Mercury News,[7] The Strad, BBC Music Magazine,[8] San Francisco Classical Voice,[9] Concerti Magazine,[10] Music Matters,[11] Musical America,[12] and Tokyo's Ongaku-no-Tomo. On television, she has appeared on Articulate with Jim Cotter, NBC Nightly News, Channel 13 New York Voices and PBS's AHA! A House for the Arts,[13] and has also been a frequent guest on American Public Media's Performance Today, Saint Paul Sunday, and other popular classical radio programs.

Discography

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  • Winterreise (2020)
  • Wu Han LIVE III (2019)
  • Bach, Mendelssohn, Debussy, Britten (2018)
  • Wu Han LIVE II (2016)
  • Romantic Piano Quartets (Brahms, Schumann, Mahler) on Deutsche Grammaphon with Daniel Hope, Paul Neubauer and Wu Han (2015)
  • Wu Han LIVE (2014)
  • Dvorak Piano Trios with Philip Setzer and David Finckel (2012)
  • Clarinet Trios with David Shifrin and David Finckel (2011)
  • Mendelssohn: The Piano Trios with Philip Setzer and David Finckel (2011)
  • For David and Wu Han (contemporary works composed for David Finckel and Wu Han) (2009)
  • Schubert Piano Trios with Philip Setzer and David Finckel (2008)
  • Derek Han plays Mozart, with Wu Han, Peter Asimov, and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (2008)
  • Russian Recital (featuring solo piano works by Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninov, and Skryabin) (2007)
  • CMS Studio Recordings: Elgar and Walton (2007)
  • CMS Studio Recordings: Beethoven and Dvořák (2007)
  • DG Concerts: Bartok/Dvořák (2007)
  • Brahms Sonatas (2005)
  • Schubert Sonatas (2004)
  • Edwin Finckel: Music For Cello (2001)
  • Russian Classics (2001)
  • Beethoven: Complete Works for Piano & Cello (1998)
  • Sonatas by Strauss, Franck, and Finckel (1997)
  • Sonatas by Tchaikovsky and Kodály with Da-Hong Seetoo and David Finckel (1997)
  • Sonatas by Grieg, Schumann, and Chopin (1997)

References

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  1. ^ "Wu Han Full Biography". artistled.com. Archived from the original on 2007-05-19.
  2. ^ a b "David Finckel (Cello) - Short Biography". mail.bach-cantatas.com. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  3. ^ "David Finckel & Wu Han Renew at Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center | WQXR | New York's Classical Music Radio Station". WQXR. 13 May 2013. Retrieved 2019-04-03.
  4. ^ "MusicalAmerica - The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's April 2019 Concerts". www.musicalamerica.com. Retrieved 2019-04-11.
  5. ^ "Aspen Music Festival and School".
  6. ^ "Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Signs Up Its Artistic Directors Through 2022". mobile.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  7. ^ "It's all about the music at Menlo". The Mercury News. 2014-07-15. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  8. ^ "Tchaikovsky; Rachmaninov; Scriabin; …: Tchaikovsky: The Seasons; Rachmaninov: … (Wu Han) | Classical music review from Classical-Music.com". www.classical-music.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  9. ^ "The Extremity of Love: Wu Han and David Finckel's Chamber Music Odyssey (Part 1)". San Francisco Classical Voice. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  10. ^ "Concerti Magazine". myemail.constantcontact.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  11. ^ "Chamber Music Duo a Triple Threat". Music Matters. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  12. ^ "MusicalAmerica - Musicians of the Year". www.musicalamerica.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  13. ^ The Chamber Music Society at SPAC | AHA! A House for Arts | PBS, retrieved 2017-11-30
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