"Imaginative - Diverse - Powerful"
Pianist Chi-Chen Wu and clarinetist Blake McGee began performing together with the goal of exploring the vast and diverse duo repertoire for the two instruments. Praised for expressing a “matching passion” for the music they perform, they strive to present music that embodies chamber music’s abilities to express an intimate yet fervent experience for the audience. Both performers have extensive solo and chamber experience and have come together as a touring ensemble to perform in a variety of venues.
Albert Lea, MN
Minneapolis, MN
Chi-Chen Wu, pianist, fortepianist
Praised by Fanfare Magazine for her “astonishing” and “poetic piano playing” and “symphonic, expansive texture of breathless virtuosity” (Historical Keyboard Society), pianist Chi-Chen Wu has appeared as recitalist, chamber musician, and concerto soloist in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Taiwan, China, Thailand, the Aspen Music Festival, Monadnock Music Festival, and the Boston Early Music Festival Fringe Concert Series, among others. Her concerts have been broadcast on NPR’s Simply Grand Concert Series and NPR-From The Top in Boston. Musicians and conductors with whom she has concertized include Karl-Heinz Steffens, Jonathan McPhee, Zuill Bailey, members of the Juilliard String Quartet, Takács String Quartet, musicians from the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra as well as New York Philharmonic. American Record Guide chooses her recording of Schumann duo sonatas as one of the top recordings, and recommends its reader to “Stick with Kremer and Argerich (Nov/Dec 1987) or DiEugenio and Wu (Sept/Oct 2015) for more enthusiastic performances.”
A native of Taiwan and prize winner of several Taiwanese national piano competitions, Wu came to the United States for graduate study and received two master’s degrees, piano performance and collaborative piano, and a doctorate from New England Conservatory (NEC). Upon her graduation from NEC with Distinction in Performance and Academic Honors, she was appointed Assistant Professor at National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU). In 2007, Dr. Wu accepted a position of visiting scholar at Cornell University, where she taught piano, studied fortepiano with Malcolm Bilson, and conducted research on historical performance practice.
Chi-Chen’s newest album of Schumann Fantasie and Carnaval has won a silver medal in the Global Music Awards. Her recording of the complete Schumann sonatas for piano and violin received two gold medals from the same competition. It was also named in the Top 10 "Best Classical Recordings of 2015" by The Big City, New York. Her recital and discussion on piano collaboration are featured on the DVD “Performing the Score” released in 2011. The highlights of the 2018-19 season include performances as soloist in Beethoven’s Triple Concerto and Wölfl’s Piano Concerto No. 1 as well as a concert tour in Spain. Chi-Chen is represented by Great Lakes Performing Artist Associates.
Blake McGee, clarinetist
Dr. Blake McGee is assistant professor of clarinet at the University of Wyoming. A native of the west coast, Dr. McGee performed as a member of the Portland Opera, Vancouver Symphony, and the Oregon Mozart Players chamber orchestra. He is currently principal clarinet of the Wyoming Symphony in Casper, WY.
Dr. McGee maintains an active schedule of performance engagements, master classes, and clinics throughout world, including recent residencies in Thailand, China, and Montenegro. He regularly collaborates with active living composers on new solo works for the clarinet and performs several premiers each year. His interest in a multitude of styles ranging from traditional classical, to folk, to free improvisation and avant-garde has made McGee an extremely versatile performer.