Willamette University is proud to introduce Hekun Wu, highly acclaimed ‘cellist-conductor, as a member of the distinguished music faculty
Hekun Wu is in his third season as Music Director and Conductor of the Salem (OR) Chamber Orchestra; he opened his inaugural season performing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations as both cellist and conductor. As a concert cellist, he has performed on three continents in such cities include Shanghai, Paris, New York, Boston, Chicago, Tokyo, and Taipei, and has been featured on numerous radio and television broadcasts. The Boston Globe described his playing as ”bold and very full of conviction, given unusually supple rubato that was beautiful,” and the China Times noted his ”virtuosic technique with thoughtful and poetic expressivity.”
Wu has performed
with major orchestras in China including the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra and
the China Central Philharmonic, giving the Chinese premieres of the Milhaud
and Elgar cello concerti, the latter recorded for the CRC label. He made his
solo début in France with the Orchestre de Bordeaux under Pierre Dervaux
at the Ravel Festival, followed by a televised performance in Paris; the legendary
French cellist Maurice Gendron wrote to congratulate him, “We saw you
performing Fauré’s Elégie on French Television, it was
very beautiful, Bravo.” Wu has served as Principal Cellist of the Singapore
Symphony Orchestra on tour and recordings (BIS). His recent solo engagements
have included appearances at Merkin Hall in New York, the Taipei National
Concert Hall, and at the Shanghai Grand Theatre, where his New Millennium
Cello Concerti Concert in 2000 with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra was
highly acclaimed.
In May 2006, he performed the Chinese premiere of Penderecki’s Concerto Grosso (2001) with the composer conducting in Guangzhou, China, and at the Shanghai International Music Festival; subsequently he toured with Trio Oregon in six cities in Japan and China. His recently released CDs include two world premiere recordings: the Turkish composer, Ahmed Adnan Saygun’s Sonata (Musica Mundana) and the American composer, Eric Sawyer’s “Five Bagatelles” (Albany Records), as well as a solo album, “Songs and Dances from Distant Lands” (CRC).
While
increasingly in demand as a cellist and conductor, Wu is also a well-respected
teacher. He has held workshops and masterclasses at numerous conservatories
and universities including the New England Conservatory, The Longy School
of Music, the Shanghai Conservatory, and the Taipei National University of
the Arts. Dr. Wu is currently the cello professor at Willamette University
and performs with Trio Oregon. He has been on the faculties of Wellesley College
and the University of Delaware as both cellist and conductor, and previously
at the Shanghai Conservatory where he was the youngest cello professor appointed.
His former students have gone on to win major national and international competitions
and to serve principal chairs with major orchestras.
Born and educated in Shanghai and later at the Paris Conservatoire, he completed his graduate studies in the U.S. He was a recipient of both cello and conducting fellowships from the Aspen Music Festival. Wu studied with renowned cellists, Maurice Gendron, Paul Tortelier, and Zara Nelsova, as well as Russian cellist, Tanya Remenikova, and American cellist, Leslie Parnas. As a conductor, he has worked with David Zinman, Edo de Waart, and Murry Sidlin at the American Academy of Conducting.