Chi-Chen Wu 吳紀禛, Pianist
Active in performing, recording, teaching and research, pianist Chi-Chen Wu is equally at home in the worlds of contemporary and classical music as well as historical performance practice.
Recently making her Carnegie Hall debut with the Helios trio, Wu has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, Luxembourg, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, among others. She has performed at numerous festivals including Aspen, Monadnock, and the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert Series. Her live performances have been broadcast on NPR’s live performance programs Simply Grand Concert Series, From The Top, and many others.
As a featured chamber musician, Chi-Chen has shared the stage with Augustin Hadelich, Karl-Heinz Steffens, Jonathan McPhee, Zuill Bailey, Guy Johnston, members of the Juilliard String Quartet, Takács String Quartet, and musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
A native of Taiwan and prize winner of several Taiwanese national piano competitions, Wu came to the United States for graduate study at New England Conservatory of Music where she received two master’s degrees, (piano performance and collaborative piano) as well as a doctorate. Upon her graduation, with Distinction in Performance and Academic Honors, she was appointed Assistant Professor at National Taiwan Normal University.
In 2007, Dr. Wu accepted a position of visiting scholar at Cornell University, where she taught piano, studied fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and conducted research on historical performance practice with Neal Zaslaw.
As part of her research activities, in the summer of 2012 she presented a paper on Schumann’s metronome markings at the World Piano Conference in Serbia. This paper received “Diploma of Excellence” from the World Piano Teachers Association, the highest accolade of this organization. Her paper “Pianist as Portrayer of Imagery in ‘En Sourdine’ by Fauré and Debussy” was published as the featured article in the Journal of Singing.
As an interpreter of contemporary music, Chi-Chen Wu was the pianist of Aggregate, a Boston-based composer group. She premiered the piano version of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby at Jordan Hall, The Poet and the War by Norber Palej, and Ralf Gawlick’s Herzliche Grüße Bruno, a one-hour electro-acoustic composition. Recent notable contemporary music performances include Piano Concertino by George Perle and Malcolm Williamson’s Concerto No. 2 as soloist with Pacifica Chamber Orchestra in Seattle.
Chi-Chen’s album of Schumann Fantasie and Carnaval on a Graf fortepiano won an award for Best Classical Album in the Global Music Awards. Her recording of Schumann’s complete sonatas for piano and violin also on a Graf fortepiano received two gold medals from the same competition. American Record Guide selected it as one of the top recordings of this repertoire and recommends its readers to “Stick with Kremer and Argerich or DiEugenio and Wu.” It was also named in the Top 10 “Best Classical Recordings of 2015″ by The Big City, New York. Her recital and discussion with Malcolm Bilson on piano collaboration are featured on his DVD “Performing the Score” released in 2011.
Some highlights of her recent professional activities include a recital with Augustin Hadelich, performances as soloist in Wölfl’s Piano Concerto No. 1 as well as Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and a concert at the Nuremberg Symphony Hall in Germany. In Fall 2021, Chi-Chen was invited by the composition department of the University of Florida to conduct a residency, where she worked with their composers and recorded 6 pieces written for her duo with cellist Sam Ou. Recently, she started a 5-year project of commissioning and recording new works by BIPOC woman composers. She is also recording a piece by Chris Shelton for piano and interactive software. In addition to working on contemporary compositions, she and violinist John Fadial recently finished recording the complete duo works by Gabriel Fauré on an 1865 Pleyel in collaboration with Cornell Center for Historical Keyboards.
In the fall of 2023, Dr. Wu joined the faculty at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, School of Music as Associate Professor of Piano and Keyboard Area Chair. Previously, she served as Associate Professor of Piano and Collaborative Piano Coordinator at the University of Wyoming. Her students have been prizewinners in international competitions and have been accepted for graduate study to the Juilliard School, New England Conservatory, McGill University, Conservatoire de Paris and other such institutions.
被國外樂評形容為「有著令人屏息的精湛琴藝及千變萬化的音色」的旅美鋼琴家吳紀禛是第一位獲得全球音樂唱片大獎(Global Music Awards)金牌的台灣音樂家，2021年並獲得美國音樂大獎鋼琴獨奏第二名。活躍於國際舞台的她經常受邀至世界各地演出獨奏及室內樂音樂會，地點包括美國各大城市、加拿大、義大利、西班牙、法國、德國、盧森堡、中國、Aspen音樂節，Monadnock音樂節，波士頓早期音樂音樂節等。合作的世界知名指揮及音樂家包括 Karl-Heinz Steffens、 Gil Rose、Jonathan McPhee、 Augustin Hadelich、Zuill Bailey、 茱莉亞絃樂四重奏團員、Takács 絃樂四重奏團員、林肯中心室內樂協會成員、波士頓交響樂團及紐約愛樂團員等。她的音樂會更數度由美國國家廣播電台實況直播。
她的兩張舒曼專輯都獲得唱片大獎，其中的二重奏鳴曲專輯並與紐約愛樂並列“大城市, 紐約” 2015十大古典唱片。美國唱片指南(American Record Guide)評論 ：「沒有其他曲目像這幾首奏鳴曲這樣倚重演奏者的詮釋。克萊曼和阿格麗希(1987)以及由基尼歐和吳(紀禛) (2015)精湛熱情的演奏是我最推薦的版本。」、「吳紀禛的詮釋使得奏鳴曲第一二號格外出色精彩。若要欣賞這幾首奏鳴曲，一定要聽這張唱片。」她2017年發行的舒曼幻想曲及狂歡節專輯也獲得樂評一致的推薦，美國Fanfare雜誌評論：「吳紀禛是天生的舒曼詮釋家，她高超的彈性速度，細膩激昂的樂句表現，令人驚嘆的技巧，讓樂迷在她的演奏中聽到了舒曼的靈魂。」；美國Gapplegate古典現代音樂評論：「這張唱片是舒曼的舒曼，Bravo！」這張唱片也獲得全球音樂唱片大獎銀牌與最佳古典音樂專輯。
出生於台灣的吳紀禛，在美國新英格蘭音樂學院取得鋼琴獨奏與鋼琴合作雙碩士，之後再以優異演奏及學科等高等榮譽獎項順利取得博士學位，並於同年獲聘國立台灣師範大學表演藝術研究所專任助理教授。她的老師包括Jacob Maxin, Irma Vallecillo, John Moriarty, Kayo Iwama及John Greer ，並曾接受世界知名演奏家如Lynn Harrell, Thomas Quasthoff, Ralph Kirshbaum, 及Martin Katz的指導。2007年至美國常春藤名校康奈爾大學任教，除了教授大學部及研究生鋼琴獨奏個別課外，她並與國際知名古鋼琴家Malcolm Bilson學習古鋼琴演奏，及研究古樂詮釋演奏法(Historical performance practice)。在2011年6月獲歐洲國際鋼琴研討會邀請發表演說，探討舒曼速度標記的含義，此論文並獲該協會最高學術研究優異獎項。此外，她也曾受邀到西班牙Oviedo最高等音樂院發表演說，並舉行四場大師班。
對早期音樂的鑽研外，吳紀禛也經常受邀為現代知名作曲家首演，包括John Harbison及Nobert Palej。近兩年的協奏曲演出包括與西雅圖Pacifica樂團合作，演出英國現代作曲家Malcolm Williamson第二號鋼琴協奏曲、與Monadnock樂團合作Joseph Wölfl 第一號鋼琴協奏曲以及與Battle Creek樂團合作貝多芬三重協奏曲。2023年為美國作曲家蓋希文125年誕辰，吳紀禛剛與波士頓的Arlington 愛樂交響樂團合作演出蓋希文F大調鋼琴協奏曲。
吳紀禛目前為美國伊利諾大學香檳分校音樂院鍵盤系主任及專任鋼琴副教授，除了每學年受邀至歐洲及美國許多城市舉行十幾場的獨奏會及室內樂音樂會外，她亦頻繁擔任鋼琴比賽評審及受邀至美國及其他國家各大學與音樂院舉行大師班。她的學生們經常在鋼琴比賽中獲獎，並考入如茱莉亞音樂院、新英格蘭音樂院、以及加拿大排名第一的McGill大學音樂院等名校攻讀碩士及博士學位。
Source from https://ccwpiano.com/portal/biography/
