Clarinetist
Mingzhe Wang, native of
Wuhan,
China, first
studied clarinet at the age of 9. His first public performance was at the age
of 10 and by age 11 he was admitted to the Wuhan Conservatory and subsequently
the Central Conservatory of Music in
Beijing.
In 1997, Mr. Wang came to the
US
to study at the Harid Conservatory of Music at
Lynn
University,
graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2001. He is currently completing the Doctor of
Musical Arts degree at
Yale
University, where he also
obtained his Masters degree and Artist Diploma.
A prizewinner
in the National Society of Arts and Letters Woodwind Competition (1999), the
Orchestral Instrument Competition (2001), and the Yale Woolsey Hall Concerto
Competition, Mr. Wang is committed to promote both the music of our time and
the classics. He performed the Chinese Premiere of Elliott Carter’s Hiyoku and
has worked closely with composers such as Ezra Laderman, Martin Bresnick,
Krzystof Penderecki, Aaron Jay Kernis, Lee Hoiby and Chen Yi. In addition, he
has performed on period clarinets with prominent groups such as The American
Classical Orchestra and the Clarion Music Society Orchestra. As a chamber
musician, Mr. Wang has collaborated and continues to work with some of the most
prominent young artists such as pianists Ilya Poletaev, Nathan Carterette and
Ryo Yanagitani, violinist/violist Owen Dalby, cellists Mihai Marica and Dmitri
Atapine. Mr. Wang's performances have been broadcast on both
China’s Central Television and
New York’s WQXR.
Apart from
being an active performer and educator on the clarinet, Mr. Wang is a seasoned
singer. He was the vocal soloist in the second movement "Prelude to
Watertune" to Chen Yi's Percussion Concerto with Nashville Symphony
Orchestra conducted by Giancarlo Guerrero. Mr. Wang has performed in choruses
throughout New England, as well as internationally in the
United Kingdom and
Hungary. As a founding member of
the Yale Schola Cantorum, he has worked with renowned conductors such as Simon
Carrington, Helmuth Rilling, Sir David Willcocks, James MacMillan, Sir Neville
Marriner, and Kathy Saltzman Romey.
Mr. Wang is
currently an assistant professor of clarinet at
Austin
Peay
State
University in
Clarksville,
Tennessee.
Previously, Mr. Wang taught clarinet to Yale undergraduate students and served
on the faculty at the
Neighborhood
Music
School
in
New Haven,
Connecticut. He is a member of the Clarion
Music Society Orchestra in
New York City,
clarinetist and co-artistic director of the Gateway
Chamber Ensemble, an active performing group he co-founded in 2008
based in
Clarksville,
Tennessee, and a sublist member of the
Nashville Symphony. As a choral singer, he is a member of the Simon Carrington Chamber
Singers.
