Carnival of the Animals

Di Wu and Spencer Myer, pianos
Barbara Fant, narrator
David Danzmayr, conductor

Di Wu's Bio

piano-redPraised in the Wall Street Journal as “a most mature and sensitive pianist” and named one of the “up-and-coming talents” in classical music by Musical America, Chinese-American Di Wu continues to broaden her reputation as an elegant and powerful musician. Her concerts have taken her across the globe, charming audiences from East to West with her “charisma, steely technique, and keen musical intelligence” (Philadelphia Inquirer) and her “fire and authority” (Washington Post).

Di’s 2016-17 season highlights include an extended concert tour in Asia and Latin America with famed soprano Sarah Brightman, performing memorable themes from Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto, Edward Greig’s piano concerto, and SpellBound concerto in high capacity venues. She will also make her recital debuts in Belarus and Russia, as well as returning to perform with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and Columbus Indiana Philharmonic, among others.

Di made her professional debut at the age of 14 with the Beijing Philharmonic, and has since appeared with orchestras such as those of Cincinnati, Fort Worth, New Jersey, Pittsburgh, Seattle and National Symphony Orchestra, in the U.S., and abroad with Hamburg Philharmoniker, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, and Singapore Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. Some of the most eminent conductors have collaborated with Di including Charles Dutoit, Christoph Eschenbach, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Yu Long, Ludovic Morlot and Carlos Miguel Prieto, among others.

In addition to orchestra engagements, Di is also sought after as a recitalist. In New York, she made debuts at Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, and has also appeared in such music centers as Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as at the Gilmore International Keyboard Festival, Ravinia Festival and the Portland Piano Festival. She is also a frequent performer in Europe and, of course, in major venues throughout Asia. Her most recent appearance in Tokyo, at an arena concert recorded and released by Sony-Epic Records in Japan, took place before an audience of over 11,000.

Ms. Wu’s recording of Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Books I and II received praise from Musical America, whose critic wrote “Her account of the Brahms is amazing. She takes all the difficult options (her glissandos are unbelievable!), and she conjures from the piano absolutely gossamer, violinistic textures, joyous humor, and brilliant air-borne tempos.”

Winner of multiple awards including a coveted prize at the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition; The Juilliard School’s Petschek Award; The Virtuosi Prize at Lisbon’s prestigious Vendome Competition; and the winner of Astral Artists’ 2007 National Auditions, Ms. Wu came to the United States in 1999 to study at the Manhattan School of Music with Zenon Fishbein. From 2000 to 2005 she studied at The Curtis Institute with Gary Graffman, subsequently earning a Master of Music degree at Juilliard under Yoheved Kaplinsky, and an Artist Diploma under the guidance of Joseph Kalichstein and Robert McDonald.

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