Chi-Chen Wu 吳紀禛, Pianist
Praised by World Journal, Chicago for her “amazing playing” and her Schumann performance, in which “the music comes to life in a new way” (Early Music America), pianist Chi-Chen Wu has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician and concerto soloist in the United States, Canada, France, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, China, the Aspen Music Festival, Monadnock Music Festival, Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert Series, Mayfest Chamber Music Festival among others. Her concerts have been broadcast on NPR’s Simply Grand Concert Series and NPR-From The Top in Bos. Musicians and conductors with whom she has concertized include Karl-Heinz Steffens, Jonathan McPhee, Zuill Bailey, members of the Julliard String Quartet, Takács String Quartet, musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and members of the Boston Symphony as well as New York Philharmonic orchestras.
A native of Taiwan and prize winner of several Taiwanese national piano competitions, Wu came to the United States in 1999 for graduate study and received two master’s degrees, piano performance and collaborative piano, and a doctorate from New England Conservatory, where her teachers included Jacob Maxin, Irma Vallecillo, John Moriarty, Kayo Iwama, John Greer and Vivian Weilerstein. She has also worked with Thomas Quasthoff, Martin Katz, Kim Kashkashian, Lawrence Lesser, and Gabriel Chodos. Upon her graduation from NEC with Academic Honors and Distinction in Performance, she was appointed Assistant Professor at National Taiwan Normal University, an institution with the highest ranked music department in the country. In addition to her teaching duties at NTNU, she also served as coordinator of collaborative piano study and developed the graduate program’s curriculum.
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. Continuing with her research interests, in the summer of 2011 she presented a research paper on Schumann’s metronome markings at World Piano Conference in Serbia. This paper received “Diploma of Excellence” from the World Piano Teachers Association, the highest accolade of this association. Her performances on the fortepiano include: Bach Double-Keyboard Concerto with Cornell Chamber Orchestra, solo recitals, and duo recitals featuring the complete Brahms Violin Sonatas with Jasmine Lin on an Erard piano.
An interpreter of contemporary music, Chi-Chen Wu was the official pianist of Aggregate, a Boston-based composers group and was pianist in the premier of the piano version of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby. She world premiered The Poet and The War by Norber Palej and recently performed as soloist Concertino for Piano, Winds and Timpani by George Perle.
As a recording artist, Chi-Chen’s album of the complete Schumann sonatas for piano and violin recently won two Gold Medals from the Global Music Awards. She has recorded Haydn Lieder on a replica of Walter fortepiano with soprano Andrea Folan for Musica Omnia. Her recital and discussion on piano collaboration are featured in DVD “Performing the Score” released in 2011. Projects in this academic year include a recording of Schumann piano works and concerts in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington, North Carolina, China, and Taiwan.
Dr. Wu is assistant professor of piano and coordinator of collaborative piano at University of Wyoming. Her students have been the first-prize winner of the northwest division of the MTNA competition and accepted to prestigious schools such as the Juilliard School and Conservatoire de Paris for graduate study. Before joining the faculty of University of Wyoming, she has served full-time on the faculty at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania from 2010-2012. Dr. Wu is currently WMTA President-Elect.
活躍於國際舞台的鋼琴家吳紀禛經常受邀以獨奏家及室內樂家至世界各地演出，演出地點包括美國各大城市，加拿大，西班牙，法國，日本，中國，Aspen音樂節，Monadnock音樂節，Mayfest國際室內樂音樂節等。合作的世界知名指揮及音樂家包括 Karl-Heinz Steffens, Jonathan McPhee, Zuill Bailey, 茱莉亞絃樂四重奏團員，福爾摩沙絃樂四重奏團員，Avalon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。她的音樂會曾好幾度被美國國家廣播電台實況錄音播出。
出生台灣的吳紀禛，於1999年至美國新英格蘭音樂院攻讀鋼琴獨奏及鋼琴合作雙碩士及博士學位，她的老師包括 Jacob Maxin, Irma Vallecillo, John Moriarty, Kayo Iwama, John Greer 及 Vivian Weilerstein，並曾接受世界知名演奏家如Kim Kashkashian, Thomas Quasthoff, Ralph Kirshbaum, 及Martin Katz指導。2006年她以優異演奏及學科高等榮譽等獎項順利取得博士文憑，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。
2007年吳紀禛獲聘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，她並與國際知名古鋼琴家Malcolm Bilson學習古鋼琴演奏，及研究歷史演奏法(Historically informed performance practice)。在2011年6月獲得歐洲Serbia國際鋼琴研討會邀請發表演說，探討舒曼速度標記的含義，此論文並獲得該協會的最高學術研究優異獎項。她的古鋼琴演出包含巴哈鍵盤協奏曲，數場古鋼琴獨奏會，全布拉姆斯小提琴與鋼琴奏鳴曲，及舒曼第一及第二號小提琴與鋼琴奏鳴曲。
曾任波士頓現代作曲家團體Aggregate首席鋼琴家並對於現代音樂有獨特詮釋的吳紀禛，經常受邀為現代知名作曲家首演，包括於麻省理工學院任教的John Harbison 教授及加拿大多倫多大學 Nobert Palej 教授。最近現代音樂演出包含擔任獨奏家演出George Perle鋼琴小協奏曲及於亞力桑那州州立大學世界首演作曲家Douglas McConnell的作品。
鋼琴家吳紀禛與女高音Andrea Folan為唱片公司Musica Omina錄製的海頓藝術歌曲已於2013底於全世界發行，另一張舒曼小提琴與鋼琴奏鳴曲也將於今年底發行。她的舒曼音樂會及關於鋼琴室內樂的訪問被收錄於2011年底全世界發行的ＤＶＤ“Performing the Score”。Musica Omina唱片公司已與她簽約於2015年秋季錄製舒曼鋼琴獨奏曲。
吳紀禛目前為美國懷俄明大學鋼琴專任助理教授，自2012學年起任教於其音樂系大學部及研究所。之前專任於美國賓州Susquehanna 大學音樂系。除了頻繁的演出邀約外，她並常擔任鋼琴比賽評審及獲邀至美國各大學與音樂院舉行大師班。
Source from http://ccwpiano.com/portal/biography
