Stephen Wu, an educator, composer and performer has spent the majority of his life developing his skill and creativity as a musician. Starting his musical career in his hometown of Taipei, Taiwan, Stephen has studied music at Trinity College of Music in the United Kingdom, Manhattan School of Music in New York City, NY, Montclair State University in Montclair, NJ and Moscow Tchaikovsky State Conservatory of Music in Russia. While in Moscow, he studied with Aleksei Nasedkin, who along with Sviatoslav Richter and Emil Gilels, was a student of Heinrich Neuhaus, a pianist and pedagogue at the Moscow Conservatory and who was known for his imaginative interpretation of works by Scriabin. Stephen has given concerts as a soloist and a collaborative musician in different venues including Taipei Chiang Kai Shek Memorial National Concert Hall in Taiwan, Rachmaninoff Hall in Russia and Leconfield Hall in the UK and Carnegie Hall in New York City.
Stephen recently appeared with Maestro George Marriner Maull, the Artistic Director of the Discovery Orchestra, as a guest artist on several of the organization’s “web chats”. These online videos foster music appreciation by highlighting elements of music through education and performance. They are available to all on the Discovery Orchestra’s website, www.youtube.com/discoveryorchestra and here. Stephen also appeared in the Discovery Orchestra TV production of a music series, Fall in Love with Music with Masetro Maull broadcasted on NJTV and AmazonPrime. Recently, Stephen performed the Yellow River Piano Concerto, a four-movement composition that has an intrinsic cultural value to Chinese history, with the Baroque Orchestra of New Jersey. Along with working as a performer and private piano instructor, Stephen serves as full-time collaborative pianist at Newark Arts High School, the first performing arts high school in the United States. Additionally, he serves as both a faculty member in Arts Education as well as a regular collaborative pianist at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. He has been involved with numerous Arts Education programs, including the Young Artist Institute, Summer Youth Performance Workshop, In-School Residencies, Star-Ledger Scholarship and Jeffery Carollo Music Scholarship.
Stephen has channeled his commitment to education into the creation of an interactive program for Apple iOS and Mac users. “Note Reading: An Interactive Workbook” is designed to serve as a tool for all individuals who are starting to learn how to read music. This digital book is available for purchase in the iTunes stores internationally.