Wu Di (pianist)

Di Wu 吳迪 [1]
Birth name	Di Wu 吳迪
Origin	Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Genres	Classical
Occupations	Pianist
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1990s-present

This is a Chinese name; the family name is Wu.

Di Wu (Chinese: 吳迪; ) ^[1] is a Chinese pianist.

Early life and education

Born into a musical family in Nanjing, Jiangsu, Di Wu ^[1] entered Beijing's Central Conservatory of Music at age 12. She made her professional debut at age 14 with the Beijing Philharmonic, and has since toured widely to positive reviews. In 1999, Wu came to the United States to continue her music studies, first with Zenon Fishbein at the Manhattan School of Music, then with Gary Graffman at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia from 2000 to 2005. Wu earned a Master of Music degree at The Juilliard School under Yoheved Kaplinsky, and in 2009, she received an Artist Diploma under the guidance of Joseph Kalichstein and Robert McDonald.

Performances

Wu has toured widely in Asia, Europe and the United States, where she has performed with prominent musicians such as Christoph Eschenbach and the Curtis Symphony Orchestra;^[2] Charles Dutoit and the Philadelphia Orchestra; James Conlon and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra; Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra; and Simone Young and the Philharmoniker Hamburg. Other orchestral engagements have included appearances with Washington's National Symphony Orchestra, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and twice in Carnegie Hall with The New York Pops.

Ms. Wu has also been welcomed as a recitalist: She made her solo debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2005, and has performed at the Ravinia Festival and the International Keyboard Institute & Festival, as well as the Alice Tully Hall, Cleveland Playhouse, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, the Bass Performance Hall in Texas, and more. In Europe, she has presented recitals at festivals such as Mozart Gesellschaft Dortmund, Klavier Festival Ruhr, and the Busoni International Piano Festival, and at venues such as the Musee de Grenoble and Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

Critical Reception

Praised in The Wall Street Journal as a "most mature and sensitive pianist" ^[3] Wu's reputation as an elegant yet exciting musician continues to grow. In Washington, D.C., she was hailed for her “fire and authority” (Post);^[4] in Philadelphia, for her “charisma, steely technique and keen musical intelligence” (Inquirer); And in San Francisco, where the San Francisco Classical Voice critic raved, “what distinguishes Di Wu from her contemporaries is the level of musical maturity she possesses, her exacting attention to details, and the way she opens her vision of the world to the audience. The sensitivity she possesses and the loving care she lavishes on the most minute details of the music is nothing short of phenomenal." ^[5]

Wu's recording of Brahms's Variations on a Theme of Paganini, Books I and II received praise from Musical America's Harris Goldsmith, who 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".^[6]

Competitions

Winner of multiple awards, including, in 2009 alone, a coveted prize at the Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition; The Juilliard School’s Petschek Award; and the Vendome Virtuosi prize at Lisbon’s prestigious Vendome Competition. Other competition credits include winner of the Astral 2007 National Audition, first prize at the 2005 Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the 2000 Missouri Southern International Piano Competition, for which she was invited back for a worldwide broadcast encore recital in 2001.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Website of Di Wu
2. ^ Live Recording, Curtis Symphony Orchestra (Christoph Eschenbach, Di Wu, Thomas Bloch): MESSIAEN Turangalîla-symphonie
3. ^ Benjamin Ivry, "What Was The Jury Thinking?", The Wall Street Journal
4. ^ Anne Midgette, "A Pianist Bests Her Venue", The Washington Post
5. ^ Ken Iisaka, "Di Wu’s Synesthetic World", San Francisco Classical Voice
6. ^ Harris Goldsmith, American Record Guide review of Di Wu in concert

Attribution

Some material on this page is derived from the Biography of Di Wu, on the subject's website, used with permission of the author.

Persondata
Name	Wu, Di
Alternative names
Short description	Classical pianist
Date of birth
Place of birth	Nanjing, Jiangsu, China
Date of death
Place of death