Annie Wu, flute Biography 19-‐year-‐old Annie Wu from Pleasanton, California, began playing flute at the age of eight. Following her freshman year of high school, she was awarded First Prize in the National Flute Association’s High School Soloist Competition, as well as the prize for Best Performance of a New Work Commissioned, becoming the youngest First Prize winner in the competition’s history. A winner of Astral’s 2015 National Auditions, Ms. Wu was recently named a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, “the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an artistically talented graduating high school senior.” She received the nomination after becoming a 2014 YoungArts Winner in Classical Music. In June 2014, she and 12 other arts scholars created and performed a concert entitled “A Salute to the U.S. Presidential Scholars” at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, directed by Tony Award winner Bill T. Jones. At the age of 12, she performed in Carnegie Hall as the First Prize winner of the American Fine Arts Competition, and returned to the hall as First Prize Winner of the 2010 Alexander & Buono International Flute Competition. Other awards include first prizes in the International Independent Music Competition “Individualis,” the Music Teacher’s National Association Woodwinds Competition, the Young Artist Competition of the Etude Music Club of Berkeley, the Diablo Valley Symphony Young Artist Competition, Aeron Flutes International Chamber Competition, and the High School Division at the San Francisco International Flute Festival. Upcoming, she participates in the Music Academy of the West festival. In March 2015, Ms. Wu performed Luka Foss’s Renaissance Concerto with the Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. In the 2012–2013 season, she performed with the San Francisco Symphony in its concerts entitled “Elements of Music: Composer, Conductor, Musician, Audience” and in the Symphony’s “Music for Families” concerts. She has also appeared as soloist for the Vienna International Orchestra, under the baton of Michele Santorsola at Schloss Halbturn, and with the Diablo Valley Symphony and San Jose Chamber Orchestra. As an orchestral musician, Ms. Wu was a member of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, performing in the Symphony’s Davies Symphony Hall and on tour in venues including the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, Munich Philharmonic Hall, and the Salzburg Music Festival. With the Youth Orchestra, she has performed solos in Debussy’s l’Après-‐midi d’un faune, Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf, and Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloë, among others. The San Francisco Classical Voice said of her Ravel solo, “Annie Wu’s long and virtuoso solo was especially breathtaking.” Ms. Wu was a member of the inaugural season of Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra of the USA in 2013, under maestro Valery Gergiev and with violinist Joshua Bell, where was principal flute for Visit AstralArtists.org to download hi-‐res images of this artist. AstralArtists.org/Our-‐Artists/Current-‐Roster/ 230 S. Broad Street, Suite 300 / Philadelphia, PA 19102 215-‐735-‐6999 / AstralArtists.org / [email protected] Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony at the Kennedy Center, Royal Albert Hall at the BBC Proms, the Great Hall of the Moscow Conservatory, and at the Mariinsky II Theater in St. Petersburg. Of her playing in Shostakovich, The UK Independent wrote, “No praise too high for the flute soloist.” Ms. Wu returned for the NYO’s second season and American tour, appearing in Carnegie Hall, Seiji Ozawa Hall, and Walt Disney Concert Hall. Ms. Wu reaches wide audiences in many genres of music. Her video of Greg Pattillo’s Three Beats for Beatbox Flute (the 2011 National Flute Association Commissioned Piece) currently has over 1.4 million views on YouTube. Its success led to performances in San Francisco for the JIVE Company Conference, Las Vegas at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, and Vancouver for a TEDTalk private event. She was also featured in an article in the NFA Quarterly Magazine that she authored, as well as an interview with San Francisco’s KGO Radio. Ms. Wu also performed the Pattillo on NPR’s From The Top. In 2014, Ms. Wu began studies in the Harvard/New England Conservatory 5-‐year dual degree program, which will earn her a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and a Master of Music degree from NEC. She studies with Paula Robison at NEC, and previous teachers have included Isabelle Chapuis, Esther Landau, and Shao-‐Jiang Huang. Ms. Wu is a 2014 Yamaha Young Performing Artist. When editing please do not delete references to Astral. APRIL 2015 (Please destroy any previously dated material.) AstralArtists.org/Our-‐Artists/Current-‐Roster/ 230 S. Broad Street, Suite 300 / Philadelphia, PA 19102 215-‐735-‐6999 / AstralArtists.org / [email protected] Annie Wu, flute Critical Acclaim “No praise too high for soloist [Annie Wu]…a completely professional performance.” – UK Independent “Annie Wu’s long and virtuoso solo was especially breathtaking.” – San Francisco Classical Voice Visit AstralArtists.org to download hi-‐res images of this artist. AstralArtists.org/Our-‐Artists/Current-‐Roster/ 230 S. Broad Street, Suite 300 / Philadelphia, PA 19102 215-‐735-‐6999 / AstralArtists.org / [email protected]