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yung-chiao wei double bassist

Bio

“Bass Players with great technique and supreme artistry are non-existent. Well, there are a few exceptions: the legendary Gary Karr, of course, Eugene Levinson of the New York Philharmonic, and now Yung-Chiao Wei, a young, multi-talented female bassist from Taiwan” reads a recent New York Concert Review of Yung-Chiao Wei’s Carnegie Hall solo recital debut. Yung-Chiao Wei was also praised by The Miami Herald as "a two sided-talent - a competition winning pianist turned double bass virtuoso". Through her musical insight, breathtaking virtuosity and personality, Wei combines compelling, artistic performances on the double bass with a magical presence in stage.

Currently a double bass professor at the Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Wei is a recipient of numerous honors and awards, honors including the 2006 LSU Tiger Athlete Foundation Teaching Award, 2005 LSU Summer Research Stipend Grant, 2003 Taiwan Young Concert Artist Competition, both the 2^nd Prize and Audience prize in the 2001 Izuminomori International Double Bass/Cello Competition in Japan, the New World Symphony Concerto Competition, the Texas International Festival Concerto Competition, two consecutive years the Interlochen Arts Academy Concerto Competition, the Academy’s Young Artist and Fine Arts Award, and first prize in the Taiwan National Music Competition.

Ms. Wei’s recent Carnegie Hall debut garnered tremendous praise from New York Concert Review Inc. Critic Anthony Aibel, who cited “Wei is a phenomenon”. Her performance of Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata in A minor elicited another mention of praise; Aible affirmed that “nuance on the double bass is hard to accomplish, but Wei plays with subtlety of dynamics, color and expression one seldom, if ever, hears on the bass”.

Wei has appeared at major concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall, Davis Hall, Jordan Hall, Isabella Stewart Garden Museum, Ozawa Hall, Lincoln Center Alice Tully Hall, National Concert Hall (Taiwan), Izuminomori Hall (Japan). Recent and upcoming performances include her New York recital debut at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in December 2003, concerto appearances with the National Symphony Orchestra in Taiwan, the New World Symphony (FL) and several solo recitals throughout Taiwan. She has been invited to give performances and/or master classes at the Eastman School of Music, Interlochen Arts Academy, Ithaca College School of Music, Belize (Central America), Japan Double Bass seminar, Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Taipei University of the Arts, Tunghai University in Taiwan, University of North Florida, among many. She served as a faculty member of the Bowdoin Music Festival in Maine, and was a juror for the International Bassist Society Competition in 2003.

As a chamber musician, Wei has collaborated with celebrated artists such as Leon Fleisher, James Buswell, John Gibbson and Joseph Robinson. She was invited by Denis Brott (artist director of the Montreal Chamber Music Festival) to perform in Montreal Chamber Music Festival, where she collaborated with Dennis Brott, James Campbell, Joseph Rouleau, Gabriel Gascon, Rosemarie Landry, Andy Simionescu, James Ehnes, Neal Gripp, Stephane Levesque, and James Sommerville. Her orchestra experience includes serving as principal bassist in the New World Symphony Orchestra (FL) under Michael Tilson Thomas; the New York String Orchestra at Carnegie Hall; Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra in Boston. She has participated in several festivals including the Tanglewood Music Center, Aspen Music Festival, Spoleto (Italy) and the Pacific Music Festival (Japan). Wei has been featured on the radio and television throughout USA (CBS, WGBH, PBS), Japan’s NHK, Canada's CBC, Belize and Taiwan.

Wei stretched her repertoire from its classic European and Asian base to include a whole new genre, the Argentine tango. She joined 19 other women, the Leading Ladies of Tango-an all female tango performance in 2006 by invitation of Ted Viviani, executive producer of an Extreme Tango Production in San Francisco. She collaborated with the outstanding Argentinean singer Silvana Deluigi, Uruguay's virtuoso pianist Polly Ferman, Viviana Guzman (Flute), Anna-Maria Mendieta (Harp), Ina Paris (Violin) and two bandoneonists, Eleonora Ferrerya of Argentina and Bettina Hartl of Germany.

A native of Taiwan, Wei began playing the piano at age six and the bass at age twelve. She received her Master of Music degree with honors from the New England Conservatory in Boston and her Bachelor of Music degree with a Performance Certificate from the Eastman School of Music- the first bassist to be awarded such a certificate in twenty years. Her teachers include James Vandemark, Lawrence Wolfe, Stuart Sankey, Jeff Turner, Derek Weller, Peter Dominguez and Claudia Chen.

Wei is the first Double Bass soloist transcribed and performed in the famous Chinese Violin Concerto "Butterfly Lovers". It is recorded with pianist Chao-I Chou and will be released soon on Centaur Records.

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Review: Yung-chiao Wei, double bass

Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall December 5, 2003

Bass players with great technique and supreme artistry are non-existent. Well, there are a few exceptions: the legendary Gary course, Eugene Levinson of the New York Philharmonic, and now Yung-chiao female bassist from Taiwan. Wei is a phenomenon. She began playing the piano at age six and the double bass at twelve, and has excelled at both, having won the 2003 Taiwan Young Concert Artist Competition, the second prize (no first prize was awarded) and Audience Prize in the 2001 Izuminomori International Double Bass/Cello Competition in Japan, The New World Symphony Concerto Competition. Yung-chiao Wei has appeared at major concert halls around the world including Carnegie Hall, Davis Hall, Jordan Hall, the Isabella Stewart Garden Museum, Ozawa Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall, The National Concert Hall of Taiwan and Izuminomori Hall in Japan. Her teachers include James Vandemark, Lawrence Wolfe, Stuart Sankey, Jeff Turner, Derek Weller and Claudia She chose difficult repertoire for her December recital. She opened with Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, Op. 47, originally for cello, and she played with an extraordinarily expressive, solid tone with impeccable intonation. In Schubert’s Arpeggione Sonata in A minor, Wei, along with her excellent pianist, Vivian Chang-Freiheit, produced very delicate, fine phrasing, always singing lines knowing full aware that Schubert is the master lieder composer. The second movement flowed with a genuine serenity, and the Allegretto was the epitome of effervescent charm. Nuance on the double bass is hard to accomplish, but Wei plays with subtlety of dynamics, color and expression one seldom, if ever, hears on the bass.< Karr, of Wei, a young, multitalented Chen.

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After intermission, Wei chose a marvelous unaccompanied contemporary work by David Ellis (b. 1933). The work is fairly brief, but Ellis develops his ideas with solid craftsmanship in a short period of time. She played the work with utter assurance and conviction, and the audience was enamored. The following short works were Chinese National folk melodies by Yan-jun Hua and Pao-yuan Chuang with titles: Reflection of the Moon on Lake Erquan and Song of Grassland. Wei shifted positions with ease and eloquence, singing passionately with her instrument every step of the way. These works had a common modality and mood, however, and performing them back to back on the program wasn’t the best idea. Bottesini’s Nel cor piu non mi sento, Op. 23, which followed, made up for that slight flaw, as she played the work effortlessly in the Italian bel canto style; in other words, she played as if she was on an operatic stage, singing a free, heart-felt Bellini aria. Paganini’s Variations on One String (on a theme from Moses in Egypt) was breathtaking in its virtuosity, yet Wei, with all her impressive technical abilities, still found time to make the music breathe. The fiendishly difficult harmonics in the upper range were pure and in tune; stellar one-string, stunt-like playing on such a notably cumbersome instrument is nothing short of miraculous. Catch Wei in concert soon, before Barnum and Bailey sign her to a contract.

Anthony Aibel

New York Concert Review Inc. Spring 2004

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LSU School of Music Double Bass Audition

Students interested in study at Louisiana State University School Of Music are invited to participate in auditions at locations listed below.

Louisiana State University School of Music, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pintong, Taiwan

Auditions are for admission and scholarship purposes. A live audition is encouraged for scholarship consideration. Tape audition is also acceptable. To schedule an audition please call (225)578-2678 or e-mail ywei1@lsu.edu

Applications are available on-line at www.music.lsu.edu

LSU's scholarship program is one of the most comprehensive and competitive of any school in this geographic region.

For international students, TOEFL scores of at least 550 for undergraduate and graduate admission.

Audition requirements

Undergraduate Degree

Master Degree

Doctoral degree

2 contrasting style of music

2 standard orchestral excerpts

2 movements from any Bach Cello suite

2 contrasting solo works

4 standard orchestral excerpts

One full recital demonstrating different styles

Requirements for Bass Studio (Undergraduate degree)

Freshman

Basic exercise

3 octave scales and arpeggios (bowing variations)

Etudes

Bach Suite (at least 2 contrasting movements) or any 2 contrasting movements of Baroque Sonata

A Standard concerto

Solo of your choice

Orchestra excerpts (orchestral solos) 　

Sophomore

3 octave scales and arpeggios (bowing variations)

Etudes

One sonata

Standard Concerto

Music of Bottesini

Solo of your choice

Orchestral excerpts (Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms) 　

Junior

3 octave scales and arpeggios (with double stop on 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th)

Show piece (or etudes)

Music of Bottesini

Transcription of your choice

Solo of your choice

Orchestra excerpts (Strauss tone poems) 　

Senior

One full recital demonstrating different styles

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Activity

Guest Artist James Vandemark, professor of double bass at Eastman School of Music, will visit LSU on March 16 - 18, 2002, for bass master classes, recital, and lecture on career planning.

March 16 (Sat) 8pm	Master class and Recital in the LSU Recital Hall
March 18 ( Mon) 5pm-7pm	Lecture on career planning in Room 333 in the New Music Building

Yung-chiao Wei is going to hold bass auditions and master classes in Taiwan (Taipei, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pintong). For information, please contact Professor Wei at ywei1@lsu.edu or (225)578-2678.

Upcoming Solo recital series

Yung-chiao Wei's Solo Bass Recital

7:30 pm, June 29, 2003, National Concert Hall, Taipei, Taiwan

7:30 pm, July 5, 2003, Feng-Yuan, Taiwan

7:30 pm, July 12, 2003, Yuan-lin, Taiwan　

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