Wu Han ( zh, t=吳菡, p=Wú Hán; born February 19, 1959) is a Taiwanese-American pianist and arts administrator. Born in

Taipei, Taiwan , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

, she performs as a concert pianist and has made numerous recordings. She co-directs the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and the Music@Menlo Chamber Music Festival and Institute in California. She co-founded ArtistLed, a classical music label. Wu Han also serves as an artistic advisor for Wolf Trap’s Chamber Music at the Barns series and ''The Society of the Four Arts'' in Palm Beach. In 2022, she became the artistic director of La Musica International Chamber Music Festival.

Career

Wu Han began studying music in Taipei, Taiwan at the age of 9, including piano, viola, and percussion. By age 12, Wu Han was performing in concerts and competitions, and within a few years, she had earned first prizes in all of Taiwan's major competitions. In 1981, she traveled to the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the invitation of The Hartt School in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

to study viola and piano. Wu Han studied with Raymond Hanson,

Rudolf Serkin Rudolf Serkin (28 March 1903 – 8 May 1991) was a Bohemian-born Austrian-American pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest Beethoven interpreters of the 20th century. Early life, childhood debut, and education Serkin was born in ...

, Herbert Stessin, Lillian Kallir, and

Menahem Pressler Menahem Pressler (; 16 December 1923 – 6 May 2023) was a German-born Israeli-American pianist and academic teacher. He was known for his work with the Beaux Arts Trio that he co-founded in 1955, playing until its dissolution in 2008, in hund ...

and attended the Marlboro Music School and Festival for two summers. Wu Han has performed on stages including

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, commonly known as the Kennedy Center, is the national cultural center of the United States, located on the eastern bank of the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. Opened on September 8, ...

, and

Wigmore Hall The Wigmore Hall is a concert hall at 36 Wigmore Street, in west London. It was designed by Thomas Edward Collcutt and opened in 1901 as the Bechstein Hall; it is considered to have particularly good building acoustics, acoustics. It specialis ...

in London. She collaborates with ensembles including the Borromeo String Quartet,

Emerson String Quartet The Emerson String Quartet, also known as the Emerson Quartet, was an American string quartet initially formed as a student group at the Juilliard School in 1976. It was named for American poet and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson and began touri ...

, Escher String Quartet, and St. Lawrence Quartet. Wu Han's repertoire has expanded to include works by composers Bruce Adolphe, Lera Auerbach, Gabriella Lena Frank, Pierre Jalbert, Augusta Read Thomas, and George Tsontakis. Works have been commissioned for and dedicated to Wu Han and cellist David Finckel from these composers, and music by several of them are featured on ArtistLed's 'For David and Wu Han' album.

Partnership with David Finckel

Wu Han frequently collaborates with cellist David Finckel. The two married in 1985. They regularly perform in chamber music series in the United States, Europe, and Asia, and 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 AudioNotes, listener guides designed to offer audiences an introduction to concert programs presented over the years. In 2003, Wu Han and Finckel co-founded Music@Menlo, an annual chamber music festival. Alumni of Music@Menlo’s Chamber Music Institute and internship program have gone on to create and direct more than 30 chamber music organizations worldwide.

Artistic leadership

In 2004, Wu Han and Finckel were appointed Artistic Directors of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. 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. Wu Han also serves as Artistic Advisor for Classical Music for the Society of the Four Arts. 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 The Aspen Music Festival and School (AMFS) is a European classical music, classical music festival held annually in Aspen, Colorado. It is noted both for its concert programming and the musical training it offers to mostly young-adult music stu ...

for many years, and in 2013 established The Finckel-Wu Han Chamber Music Studio, which ran for two weeks each summer through 2019.

Media

Wu Han has been featured in articles and publications including: ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

,'' ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''Musical America Worldwide'', ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'', ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', ''

New York Newsday ''New York Newsday'' was an American daily newspaper that primarily served New York City and was sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The paper, established in 1985, was a New York City-specific offshoot of ''Newsday'', a Long Island- ...

'', ''

The Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

'', '' The Strad'', ''

BBC Music Magazine ''BBC Music Magazine'' is a British monthly magazine that focuses primarily on classical music. The first issue appeared in September 1992. BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the BBC, was the original owner and publisher together with ...

'', ''San Francisco Classical Voic''e, ''Concerti Magazine'', ''Music Matters'', ''Musical America'', and Tokyo's ''Ongaku-no-Tomo''. On television, she has appeared on ''Articulate with Jim Cotter'', ''

NBC Nightly News ''NBC Nightly News'' (titled as ''NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas'' for its weeknight broadcasts ) is the flagship daily evening News broadcasting#Television, television news program for NBC News, the news division of the NBC television network ...

'', Channel 13 ''New York Voices'' and PBS's ''AHA! A House for'' the ''Arts'', and has also been a guest on

American Public Media American Public Media (APM) is an American company that produces and distributes public radio programs in the United States, the second largest company of its type after NPR. Its non-profit parent, American Public Media Group, also owns and o ...

's ''Performance Today'', '' Saint Paul Sunday'', and other classical radio programs.

Discography

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

References

External links

David Finckel and Wu Han – Official Website

ArtistLed – Official Website

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center - Bio

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center – Artist Profile

Music@Menlo - Artistic Directors Profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wu, Han 1959 births American classical pianists Male classical pianists American women classical pianists American classical musicians of Chinese descent American musicians of Taiwanese descent American women musicians of Chinese descent Aspen Music Festival and School faculty Living people University of Hartford Hartt School alumni Taiwanese emigrants to the United States 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women pianists 21st-century classical pianists Taiwanese music educators Taiwanese women music educators Taiwanese pianists Taiwanese women pianists 21st-century American women pianists 21st-century American pianists 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians