NATCHITOCHES – Bassist Yung-chiao Wei and pianist Chaoi Chou will perform at Northwestern State University on Monday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public.
A Taiwanese-American bassist, Wei made her Carnegie Hall debut in 2003. She was praised by New York Concert Review Inc. which said “Wei is a phenomenon.” Wei’s CD also elicited praise from the Strad magazine “The disc provides a searching example of her formidable technique…she is a uniquely gifted and brilliant exponent of the instrument.”
As a bassist with unusual physical disadvantages: being 5 feet and 3 inches tall with hands that have thumbs and little fingers half the size of those found on normal hands, Wei was able to overcome these physical challenges and established a distinguished career as both a performer and an educator.
She has performed at major concert halls, prestigious summer festivals and has given master classes/recitals at major music schools on four continents. Her awards include the prestigious Awards to Louisiana Artists and Scholars from the Louisiana Board of Regents, and both the 2nd Prize and Audience prize in the First Izuminomori International Double Bass/Cello Competition in Japan, the New World Symphony Concerto Competition, the Interlochen Arts Academy Concerto Competition on piano for two consecutive years, the Academy’s Young Artist and Fine Arts Award and first prize in the Taiwan National Music Competition. She has served as principal bassist in the New World Symphony, the New York String Orchestra and the Metamorphosen Chamber Orchestra (Boston).
Wei has been professor of bass at LSU since 2000. She also serves as the artistic director of the annual Louisiana Bass Fest. Her students have been prize winners of international solo competitions.
Wei’s recording of the Chinese violin concerto “Butterfly Lovers” and Brahms 1st Cello Sonata is available on Centaur Records. Her transcription on the Elgar Cello Concerto, Brahms 2nd Cello Sonata and new works by Yen and Tommasini is available on several online sites.
Chou has demonstrated a versatile expertise in performing both classics and new music in venues across the US, Europe and Asia. She has performed in prestigious halls including the Eastman Theater in Rochester, New York, the Opéra Bastille in Paris, the Copenhagen Opera House, the Izuminomori Hall (Japan) and the National Recital Hall in Taipei as well at important institutions like the Universität der Künste Berlin, the Shanghai Conservatory and the Central Conservatory (Beijing, China).
The Strad magazine praised her saying, “there is plenty to admire in her technique and sound.” A frequent performer at U.S. Double Bass Conventions and at the European Double Bass Congress, Chaoi has also served as an official accompanist for the European Double Bass Congress of 2012 in Copenhagen, and again for 2016 Congress in Prague. Chaoi studied at the Interlochen Arts Academy before earning her BM, MM and DMA degrees at the Eastman School of Music. She is currently an assistant professor of general music at the Kaohsiung Campus of Shih Chien University in southern Taiwan.
