Andrew Wan, Violinist
Described as "tremendous" and "wildly virtuosic" by the New Zealand Listener, Canadian violinist Andrew Wan is equally at home as a soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. He has concertized extensively throughout North America, South America, Europe, Asia and New Zealand, performing concertos with numerous orchestras such as the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Vivaldi's Four Seasons with Musica Eterna of Havana, Cuba. Winner of the Juilliard Concerto Competition, Mr. Wan made his New York concerto debut performing Elgar's Violin Concerto in b minor with the Juilliard Orchestra and James DePriest in Alice Tully Hall in February 2007. He was the first prize winner at the Canadian Music Competitions, and a top laureate at the Michael Hill International Violin Competition in New Zealand, where Mr. Wan also won the prize for the best performance of the commissioned work earth, wind and fire... by David Farquhar. Former member of the Enigma String Quartet, which won first prizes at the Canadian Music Competitions and the National Music Festival, Mr. Wan has appeared in performances with the New Zealand Trio in Auckland Town Hall, and with eminent Canadian pianists Stephan Lemelin and Jane Coop. As part of the Juilliard School's Centennial Celebrations, Mr. Wan recently performed Mendelssohn's Octet with the Juilliard String Quartet in Carnegie Hall. Mr. Wan is currently a founding member of the N.E.W. Piano Trio with pianist Julio Elizalde and cellist Gal Nyska, which took first prize and the audience award in the Plowman Chamber Music Competition. The trio has been presented by the Bangor Symphony Series, Bosendorfer New York, Winter Harbor Chamber Series, and will perform concerts in Florida, San Francisco, New York, and Canada this spring. In April, they will perform in Arthur Schlesinger's memorial in Cooper Union, with Bill Clinton and Ted Kennedy speaking. Mr. Wan's recent performances include Chausson's Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet in Alice Tully Hall, a première of Juilliard composer Michael Brown's First Piano Trio, and a tour of Taiwan, Korea, and China with the International Sejong Soloists (ISS) and violinist Cho-Liang Lin. This summer, he will be performing with ISS at the Kennedy Center in Washington, Paris, and London. Mr. Wan received his Bachelor of Music Degree from the Juilliard School studying with Masao Kawasaki and is currently in the first year of the Master of Music program under the tutelage of Mr. Kawasaki and Ron Copes. Past teachers include Aaron Au, Tom Johnson, Martin Riseley, Sally Thomas, Yoko Wong, Yuval Yaron, and Pinchas Zukerman.
Mr. Wan plays on a 1723 Carlo Bergonzi violin, a generous gift to The Juilliard School from Cordelia Lee Beattie, lent to him from the Juilliard Rare Instrument Collection. He is generously supported by the Canada Council, the Anne Burrows Foundation, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Winspear Fund, and is a recipient of a full tuition scholarship at the Juilliard School (Jean Doyle Loomis and Irene Diamond Graduate Fellowships). He has been a past winner of the Schnurmacher Fellowship of New York's Music Performance Fund. Mr. Wan is currently on the PreCollege Solfege Faculty at the Juilliard School and also serves as Mr. Kawasaki's teaching assistant.
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