Chi Wu
Chi Wu（Chinese: 吴驰; pinyin: Wú Chí; born 22nd December 1979）is a Chinese classical pianist who has been awarded both the Tanglewood Invited Artist and Steinway&Sons Artist titles,[1] and has held hundreds of concerts domestically and abroad. Wu Chi is currently a professor in the Piano Department of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music[2] and the vice director of its Piano Research Institute, deputy secretary general & executive director of the Sichuan Piano Institute (SPI).
Early life and education
| Chi Wu | |
|---|---|
 Wu Chi portrait photo 2022.png | |
| Native name | 吴驰 |
| Born | December 22, 1979 Sichuan, China |
| 🏫 Education | Conservatorio Musicale Internazionale di Imola,[3] Italy Conservatorium van Amsterdam (CvA ),Netherlands |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| Agent | CHENGDU KNM CULTURE Media Limited Co. |
| Notable work | Liszt, Ravel, Schubert, Brahms |
| Style | Classical |
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) |
| 🏅 Awards | Steinway & Sons Artists 1994 Second Prize in the Ettlingen International Piano Competition, Ettlingen 1994 Third Prize in the First China International Piano Competition, Beijing 1996 Third Prize in the Fourth International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, Utrecht |
| 🌐 Website | wuchipianist |
Formative Education
Wu Chi's early inspirational education came from his mother. In the 1980s, when resources for music education were limited, his schooling experience was arduous. Wu lived in Leshan, Sichuan when he was young, and his piano teacher, Mr. Dan Zhaoyi, had his home in Chengdu, Sichuan, so his experience of traveling for his weekly piano lessons was unimaginable. In order to arrive at his teacher's home before 8:30 am to study piano, he had to take a 5-hour train ride from Leshan Railway Station to Chengdu South Railway Station at 2:30 am every Sunday, then he had to transfer to a bus and then walk to arrive. And it was already late at night when he returned to Leshan, on the same day after each lesson. At the beginning of his piano studies, he did this week after week until he was admitted to the Sichuan Conservatory of Music Affiliated High School.
Piano educator Yang Hanguo was an important musical influence for Wu in his formative years, giving him a rich diversity of perspectives and a wide range of aesthetic dimensions. Yang was a great teacher who interpreted the music to his students through analysis of the form, and would listen to different versions of a pianist's performance with students. During competitions, he listened to no less than 50 different versions of Piano Sonata in B minor (Liszt) with Wu, analyzing the similarities and differences between each pianist and the version of the musical score.
Youth Award
As one of the most important piano educators in China, Mr. Zhaoyi Dan has cultivated many piano talents (the famous pianist Yundi Li is also one of his students),[4] among whom the first winner of international competitions was Wu Chi in 1994. He was the first Chinese pianist to win a prize at the Liszt International Piano Competition in the Netherlands.[5] The experience of his early award-winning career also became the foundation for future outstanding pianists.
In 1996, he was selected by the Ministry of Culture to participate in the Fourth Liszt International Piano Competition in the Netherlands, where he won third prize. He was honored by the International Division of the Outreach Bureau of the Ministry of Culture of China,[6] the Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, and the Committee of the Sichuan Conservatory of Music of the Communist Party of China,[7] and was featured in more than a dozen national newspapers and magazines, such as Music Weekly and China Youth Daily. As the editor-in-chief of the 21st issue of Music Weekly in 1996 pointed out, "The award is the best result ever achieved by a Chinese piano player in a high-level international piano competition after a hiatus of more than thirty years, and is the highest award ever achieved in an international piano competition in Sichuan Province."[8]
International Study and Development
After graduating from the Middle School of Sichuan Conservatory of Music, Wu Chi was awarded a major scholarship by the Dutch Music Foundation at the age of 16 as an "outstanding pianist". He studied at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam/CvA in the Netherlands, where he received his master's degree in piano. In 2000-2003, Wu studied at the Conservatorio Musicale Internazionale di Imola[3] in Italy, to further his musical studies.
During his studies at the Conservatorio Musicale Internazionale di Imola,[3] he was one of professor Lazar Berman’s favorite students, who is a world-famous pianist. At graduation, he was awarded the highest honor for piano performance of the school, and served as Berman’s teaching assistant.[9]
In the experience of expanding international musical horizons, Wu Chi was deeply influenced by Bellman, who has a pure artist's character and a wide range of musical ideas. Berman is also a virtuoso in performing; he recorded the world's most exciting complete collection of Transcendental Études S.139 (Liszt) and played Piano Concerto No. 1 (Tchaikovsky) with Karajan in his early years. However, he was not interested in the way young pianists try to impress others with their “superior technique” at all; instead, he insists on discovering art in everyday life. Berman enabled Wu to understand the reason different composers write in various ways, which made Wu appreciate why “art comes from life”.
Major awards
1994 Second Prize in the Germany Ettlingen International Piano Competition, Ettlingen.[10]
1994 Third Prize in the 1st China International Piano Competition, Beijing.[11]
1996 Third Prize in the Fourth International Franz Liszt Piano Competition, Utrecht.[5]
Performing career
He has held more than 100 solo concerts at home and abroad, among which he collaborated with musicians and conductors including: Shanshan Yang,[12] Zheng Xiaoying, Tang Qingshi, Tan Lihua, Zhu Qiyuan,[13] Liu Xin and Liu Jiang. He has performed in nearly 30 countries, including the United States, England, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Hong Kong, China. Some of his performance venues include the Concertgebouw (Royal Concert Hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands), the Beijing Concert Hall, He Luting Concert Hall (Shanghai Conservatory of Music), Hong Kong City Hall, Chimes Concert Hall(Wuhan Conservatory Of Music), Huizhou Cultural Arts Center, Xinghai Concert Hall, Chengdu City Concert Hall, Grand Concert Hall (Xi'an Conservatory of Music). He also has good cooperation with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, the NJO National Youth Orchestra of the Netherlands, the China National Symphony Orchestra, the Chengdu Orchestra[14] and other orchestras.
Lecturing career
Hosting arts festivals with international professional influence
Since 2012, as executive director, he has hosted and organized the International Piano Festival of Sichuan Conservatory of Music for four consecutive years, and invited several gold medalists of Leeds International Piano Competition and Van Cliburn International Piano Competition, as well as piano educators from many countries to be the keynote experts of the festival. With his contributions, the festival has become the most international & professional event in southwest China.
Acting as invited experts of internationally important art festivals & the jury members of international important events
In 2013, Wu Chi participated in the Tanglewood Music Festival, one of the most important international festivals jointly organized by the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) and the Boston University School of Music, as an invited piano expert professor in domestic music schools. He was the major professor of the master open class together in the festival, with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, pianist Lang Lang, and violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter, and held other master recitals etc.
(Tanglewood Music Festival was founded in 1936; it is known as the "oldest and most classical" of the three major music festivals in North America today.)
In 2017, he was again invited to be the lead professor of Tanglewood Music Festival and to give a master performance concert.
Since 2017, he has been continuously the lead expert of Amalfi Music and Arts Festival[15] in Italy, coaching young pianists from all over the world with top international piano educators such as the former head of the piano department at Juilliard School and the head of the piano department at Peabody Institute.[16]
Since 2015, he has been consecutively invited to the Fondation Bell'Arte The Paris International Summer Sessions in France, as a master class professor.
Since 2010, he has been invited continuously to judge and give master classes at the Richmond International Piano Competition in the USA.
He has been a member of the jury of many influential international competitions, including the China-Korea International Youth Piano Competition.
He has given successful piano master class lectures at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee, the Mannes School of Music, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, the Central Conservatory of Music, the China Conservatory of Music, and other well-known music schools.
Album recordings
- In 1996, Wu Chi performed the < Liszt Piano Concerto No. 1 > live in the final of the Fourth Liszt International Piano Competition at the Utrecht Music Centre in the Netherlands, and made an official recording of the piece. Orchestra: Radio Symfonie Orkest, Conductor: Jan Stulen, Music Director: J. Berkhmer, Producer: Radio Netherlands
- 2021 On December 3, Wu Chi's solo piano debut album <Liszt: Dante Sonata> was officially released on Tencent QQ Music and NetEase Cloud Music online platforms. Production and Distribution Agency: CHENGDU KNM CULTURE Media Limited Co.[17]
Written works
Completion of Sichuan Provincial Major Scientific Research Project:
- Research on the Current Situation and Development Trend of Major International Piano Competitions - A Case Study of Leeds International Piano Competition" (established as a major scientific research project of Sichuan Provincial Education Department and completed)
Several scientific papers on piano performance and teaching published in core journals：
- On the playing of Schubert's Piano Sonata in A Major，Op.120/D654 >(Journal of Yellow Bell, No. 1, 2014)[18]
- The Charm of Piano Variations - A Trial of Mozart's Nine Variations in D on a Minuet of J.P. Duport, Journal of Musical Exploration, 2013 Supplement)
- Haydn's Piano Sonata in E-flat Major Hob.XVI-49 (Journal of Yihai, No. 2, 2013)[19]
- Analysis of Beethoven's Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op.10-3, (Journal of Yihai, Issue 6, 2012)[20]
- On the Schumann's Piano Sonata No. 2 in G minor, Op-22 (Journal of Explorations in Music, Vol. 1, 2012)[21]
- On the Performance Skills of Mendelssohn's Mass in b Minor,Op.54 (Journal of Explorations in Music, No.3, 2009)[22]
- Analyzing on the Structure Characteristics and Performance of Debussy's Imagery Sets——Reflets dans l'eau (Journal of Explorations in Music, No, 3 2007)[23]
References
- ↑ Steinway & Sons official website. "Congratulations to Chinese pianist Wu Chi on becoming an official Steinway Artist".
- ↑ "吴驰-钢琴系-四川音乐学院". www.sccm.cn.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Fondazione Accademia Internazionale di Imola". www.imolamusicacademies.org.
- ↑ Eatock, Colin (February 13, 2008). "Pianist as pop star. Is Yundi Li better than Lang Lang? He says he doesn't care". Globe and Mail. Retrieved March 22, 2022.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 PRIZE WINNERS 1986-2020. "Third Prize in the Fourth International Franz Liszt Piano Competition". office web of the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ "Explicit fax documents of International Division of the Outreach Bureau of the Ministry of Culture of China". Baidu. 25 May 1996. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ "CPC Sichuan Conservatory of Music Committee Commendation Document". 1996. Retrieved 22 March 2002.
- ↑ "China's Rising Piano Star - Wu Chi". Baidu. Music Week. May 31, 1996.
- ↑ Xun, Chao (14 February 2022). "Schumann, Schubert, Liszt ...... Piano player Wu Chi shares the charm of music in Chengdu". Wenlv News. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ Archives-Prizeswinnners. "All Prizewinners since 1988, in the Germany Ettlingen International Piano Competition". Official website of the Germany Ettlingen International Piano Competition. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ Award Certificate. "Third Prize in the 1st China International Piano Competition".
- ↑ Sohu Entertainment. "Interview with Young Pianist Yang Shanshan: Black and White Keys Flowing with Chinese Charm".
- ↑ "Zhu Qiyuan's profile". Harbin Conservatory of Music.
- ↑ "Chengdu Orchestra official website".
- ↑ "Amalfi music and arts festival | Amalfi festival". amalfi-festival.
- ↑ Piano Academy and Festival International List. "Chi Wu - Piano". www.amalfi-festival.org. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ "Après une lecture du Dante: Fantasia quasi Sonata". Tencent QQ Music. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 22 March 2022.
- ↑ Chi, Wu (19 February 2014). "on the Playing Schubert's Piano Sonata, NO. 13 in A major (Op. 120/D.664)". Wuhan Conservatory of Music Journal Browse. 109.
- ↑ Chi, Wu (July 2013). "Piano Sonata in E-flat Major Hob.XVI-49". Yihai. 2013,(2): 28–30.
- ↑ Chi, Wu (2012). "Analysis of Beethoven's <Sonata No. 7 in D major, Op.10-3>". Yihai. 2012,(6): 48–50.
- ↑ Chi, Wu (2012). "On Schumann's Piano Sonata in G Minor,No.2,Op.22". Explorations in Music. (1), 2012: 113–115.
- ↑ Chi, Wu (2009). "On the Performance Skills of Mendelssohn' Mass in b Minor,Op.54". Explorations in Music. 3,2009: 65–67.
- ↑ Chi, Wu (2007). "Analyzing on the Structure Characteristics and Performance of Debussy's Imagery Sets——Reflets dans l'eau". Explorations in Music. (3) 2007: 40–42.
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