Wu Han
Taiwanese-born American pianist Wu Han first came to prominence as part of a duet with her husband, cellist David Finckel, but went on to establish a flourishing solo career. The daughter of a policeman, Wu Han was born around 1958 in Taipei. She started music lessons at age nine and within a few years racked up most of Taiwan's major music prizes. After studies at Soochow University in Taipei, Wu Han came to the U.S. in 1981. Despite the fact that she spoke little English at the time, she won admission to the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT. The following year she won a student competition whose prize was a chance to play Robert Schumann's Piano Quintet in E flat major, Op. 44, with the school's chamber-ensemble-in-residence, the Emerson String Quartet. Wu Han and Emerson cellist David Finckel hit it off immediately (not romantically, but musically). They began to perform cello-and-piano repertory, but they knew something else was happening when, from the beginning, people asked whether they were married. As of 1985 they could say yes. The couple had one daughter, Lilian, who has shown talent as a musician and as a choreographer.
Intent on distinguishing her own career from that of her older and better-known husband, Wu Han spent two summers at the Marlboro Music Festival, one of the festivals in the New England region that combines teaching and outdoor concert events. Among her teachers at Marlboro was Rudolf Serkin. After that she joined the Musicians from Marlboro package tour. At her husband's urging she began to rent out small New Jersey venues, such as a space at the Madison Public Library, and to present solo concerts. Her career grew from those modest beginnings to recitals on major stages such as Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Kennedy Center and Library of Congress in Washington, and venues in other American cities. She toured Europe, returned to her native Taiwan, and appeared at the Aspen Music Festival and other summer events in the American West. She has collaborated with chamber groups other than her husband's, including the Borromeo and St. Lawrence string quartets. She and Finckel formed the Internet-based label ArtistLed.com in 1997, far in advance of almost any other exploitation of the Internet by classical musicians. She released her first solo recording, Russian Recital, for the label in 2007; it included music by Scriabin, Rachmaninov, and Tchaikovsky. Wu Han's activities with Finckel have encompassed a range of activities sufficiently broad that the two have been dubbed the power couple of American chamber music. They have achieved notable critical success in Britain as well as the U.S. In addition to extensive concertizing, they have jointly held directorial positions at Summerfest La Jolla and Music@Menlo in California, and at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York starting in 2004. Wu Han has taught at Aspen, the Jerusalem Music Center, and New York's 92nd St. Y, among several other institutions.
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Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Brahms, Schumann, Mahler: Piano Quartets (Live)
Daniel Hope, Paul Neubauer, David Finckel, Wu Han
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 20 Apr 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Edwin Finckel: Music for Cello
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 16 Jan 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert Piano Trios
Philip Setzer, David Finckel, Wu Han
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 25 Nov 2008
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Simple Gifts (Live)
Gilles Vonsattel, Arnaud Sussmann, Paul Neubauer, The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Wu Han
Chamber Music - Released by Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center on 9 Sep 2016
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Clarinet Trios
David Shifrin, David Finckel, Wu Han
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 25 Oct 2011
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Wu Han Live
Chamber Music - Released by ArtistLed on 12 Dec 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mendelssohn Piano Trios
Wu Han, Philip Setzer, David Finckel
Chamber Music - Released by ArtistLed on 28 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Brahms, Schumann, Mahler: Piano Quartets (Live)
Daniel Hope, Paul Neubauer, David Finckel, Wu Han
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 20 Apr 2015
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Schubert: Sonatas for Piano and Arpeggione
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 9 Mar 2004
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Dvorák Piano Trios
Wu Han, Philip Setzer, David Finckel
Chamber Music - Released by ArtistLed on 2 Nov 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Russian Classics
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 11 Dec 2001
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beethoven: Complete Works for Piano & Cello
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 19 May 1998
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Music@Menlo Live, Haydn Connections, Vol. 8
Wu Han, Arnaud Sussmann, David Finckel
Chamber Music - Released by Music@Menlo LIVE on 12 May 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Grieg, Schumann, Chopin
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 1 Jan 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
For David and Wu Han
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 12 Jan 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Tchaikovsky/Kodály
Da-Hong Seetoo, David Finckel, Wu Han
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 7 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Russian Recital
Classical - Released by ArtistLed on 27 Nov 2007
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo