Posted by: thepinetree on 06/30/2009 10:54 AM
Updated by: thepinetree on 06/30/2009 10:56 AM
Expires: 01/01/2014 12:00 AM
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24 Year Old Award Winning Piano Virtuoso Featured at Bear Valley Music Festival
Bear Valley, CA....Di Wu, a 24-year-old award winning and critically acclaimed piano virtuoso, will be featured in two performances during the Bear Valley Music Festival that opens July 25 and runs through August 9. On Friday, July 31, she will play Beethoven’s Second Piano Concerto as part of a program that includes the Festival Orchestra’s rendition of Beethoven’s Leonore Overture #3 and Stravinsky’s Pulcinella Ballet Suite. Daniel Ebbers, tenor, and Burr Philips, baritone, and Allison Stanford, soprano, will add their voices to the evening of classical music....
Sunday, August 2, Wu will play Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto #3. The afternoon program, which begins at 2 p.m., will also include the orchestra’s performance of Ravel’s Tombeau De Couperin, and Schumann’s Symphony #1 (Spring).
Maestro Carter Nice, who has been the Music Director of the festival for
26 years, recently observed Wu when she was a finalist for the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition and was very impressed.
“In my view, she was the finest performer in a very talented field and I am pleased that she has accepted our invitation to be part of this year’s festival.”
Di Wu was born in China and made her professional debut at age 14 with the Beijing Philharmonic. Since then, she has performed with various US orchestras, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (at the Kennedy Center), the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and twice with the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall.
“It takes a lot of hard work and dedication to become a great concert pianist and Ms. Wu has certainly chosen a challenging course of study,” states Nice.
After performing in China, Wu moved to the United States in 1999 to study with Zenon Fishbein at the Manhattan School of Music. She relocated to
Philadelphia a year later to study with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music. After completing her undergraduate education at the Curtis, she returned to New York City to earn her master of arts at The Juilliard School of Music under Dr. Yoheved Kaplinsky, and is now currently enrolled in Juilliard’s renowned Artist Diploma program under the guidance of Joseph Kalichstein and Robert McDonald.
In addition to being a Van Cliburn finalist, Wu was the 2007 winner the
Astral National Audition, and is now represented by Astral Artists. She also won the 2000 Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, the 2005 Hilton Head International Piano Competition, and the 2008 Juilliard William Petschek Piano Debut Recital Award.
Last year she was singled out in the 2008 Musical America feature, "Young Artists: More Thrills of Discovery”, as one of the "up-and-coming talents" in the classical music world. Wu has also won high praise from distinguished music critics at the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Dallas Morning News, and New York Concert Review.
Tickets for the July 31 concert range from $25 to $50. The August
2 prices are $20 to $40. Tickets may be ordered by visiting the festival website at www.bearvalleymusic.org or by calling toll free (800) 458-1618.
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