John Bruce Yeh
Assistant principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, John Bruce Yeh is the orchestra's longest-serving clarinetist in history.
Yeh was born in Washington, D.C., in 1957 but grew up mostly in Los Angeles. His parents were both Chinese immigrants; both were scientists but enjoyed music on the side, his father as a singer and his mother as a pianist. Yeh enrolled at the University of California at Los Angeles but continued to play music with various chamber ensembles and as principal clarinetist of the American Youth Symphony. He won the school's Frank Sinatra Musical Performance Award. In 1975, Yeh transferred to the Juilliard School in New York. He also had summer instruction at the Aspen, Marlboro, and Tanglewood festivals. In 1977, at the age of just 19, Yeh was invited by conductor Georg Solti to join the Chicago Symphony as solo bass clarinetist. In 1979, Yeh founded the Chicago Pro Musica chamber ensemble; he remains its director. That group's first recording -- of Stravinsky's L'histoire du Soldat -- won the 1985 Grammy Award for Best New Classical Artist. The year 1979 also saw Yeh elevated to assistant principal clarinetist and E flat clarinetist, a position he continued to hold as of the early 2020s. He won prizes at the Munich International Music Competition and the Naumburg Clarinet Competition in 1982 and 1985, respectively.
Yeh released his debut album, Ebony Concerto, on the Reference Recordings label in 1993; the album featured the DePaul University Wind Ensemble and included jazz-influenced concerted works by Stravinsky, Bernstein, Morton Gould, Victor Babin, and Artie Shaw. In addition to numerous solo appearances with the Chicago Symphony, including in the premiere of Elliott Carter's Clarinet Concerto in 1998, Yeh has appeared as guest principal clarinet with the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic. From 2008 to 2011, he was the acting principal clarinetist of the Chicago Symphony. Yeh, who had played in the New York New Music Ensemble as a Juilliard student, retained a strong interest in contemporary music and has had works written for him by Ralph Shapey and other composers. His recordings, several of them made for the Cedille Records label, often feature contemporary music. In 2023, Yeh released the album Chicago Clarinet Classics on Cedille. His daughter, Molly Yeh, is the host of the Food Network's Girl Meets Farm program and is also a percussionist.
© James Manheim /TiVo
Artistas similares
Discografía
5 álbum(es) • Ordenado por Mejores ventas
-
Instrument du diable
Rachel Barton Pine, John Mark Rozendaal, John Bruce Yeh, David Schrader
Clásica - Editado por Cedille el 2/12/1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Liquid Melancholy: Clarinet Music of James M Stephenson
John Bruce Yeh, Lake Forest Symphony, Alex Klein, Patrick Godon, Vladimir Kulenovic, Chicago Pro Musica
Clásica - Editado por Cedille el 13/04/2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Chicago Clarinet Classics
John Bruce Yeh, Patrick Godon, Teresa Reilly
Clásica - Editado por Cedille el 10/03/2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nielsen: Flute & Clarinet Concertos
John Bruce Yeh, Mary Stolper, Chicago Chamber Orchestra, Dieter Kober
Clásica - Editado por Centaur Records, Inc. el 18/09/2020
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music for Wind Band
Columbus State University Wind Ensemble
Clásica - Editado por Naxos el 17/11/2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo