Founder and Executive Director of IYCA
Violinist Albert Wu began playing the violin at the age of ten and actively teaches in Irvine, California. Albert Wu has performed in the major halls of os Angeles, San Francisco, New York (Carnegie Hall), Florence, Milan, Taipei, and Tokyo, among other cities in the US, Europe, and the Far East. After a concert in 1994, the “LA Times” wrote Albert to be “a promising young violinist with intellect, intensity, and lyricism.” In 1998, Albert made his solo debut in Budapest, Munich, Vienna, and Salzburg. In 2001, Albert Wu was invited by Ms. Claire Hodgkins to perform in a special centennial recital for the Jascha Heifetz Society.
Albert Wu earned his BM from UC Irvine and his Masters degree from Indiana University. He has studied with Franco Gulli, Yuval Yaron, Haroutune Bedelian, Mischa Lefkowicz, Roger Hickman, Jan Tawroscewicz, and Mehli Mehta. His chamber music teachers were Janos Starker, Gyorgy Sebok, Peter Schmidl, the Juilliard String Quartet, Cleveland String Quartet, and concertmasters of the Vienna Philharmonic & the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras.
In addition to winning top prizes in the finals of the Bach Young Artists National Competition (1998), the National ASTA Violin Competition (1992), and the Pacific Symphony Chinese-American Violin Competition (1992), Albert has also been the first prize winner in the Musical Clubs Competition, Exchange Clubs Talent Search, and numerous other national violin competitions. In 2005, Albert Wu was invited to judge the Korean Youth Music Festival Competition alongside Irvine City Councilmember Sukhee Kang.
An active proponent of modern music, Albert has performed, recorded, and championed works by composers Tyzen Haiao, Claude Baker, David Dzubay, Don Freund, and Eugene O’Brien. A recording made on February 1999 won a Special Prize Award in the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer’s Competition. It was chosen from among 421 applicants. In 2003, Albert recorded for the Society of Composers in Jason Haney’s An die Musik. In the past, he has also recorded a Hollywood film score, musical scores for Disneyland’s Magic Music Days, and performed alongside Il Divo in a music video for Universal Pictures
An active teacher, Albert Wu teaches private students in his home and has served on the violin faculties at Vanguard University, Santa Ana College, Orange Coast College, the Yamaha Music School, the Tustin Music Center, the Corona del Mar High School Orchestra, and at Irvine’s University High School. In June 2003, Albert performed alongside ten of his outstanding private students in New York's Carnegie Hall as members of the La Primavera Orchestra while an additional eight performed as members of the University High School Symphony Orchestra.
In the past, Albert has performed as first violinist in the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, the Opera Pacific Orchestra, and the LA Opera Orchestras. He has been the Concertmaster for the LA Classical Ballet Orchestra, Four Seasons Symphony, The Greater LA Metropolitan Orchestra, Costa Mesa Symphony, OCC Symphony, UCI Symphony Orchestra, La Primavera Orchestra, and the Chicago Pops Orchestra. He has also been Associate Concertmaster for the Indiana University Concert Orchestra (1997), the American Youth Symphony (under Mehli Mehta in Los Angeles, California in 1992), and the Camerata Orchestra. In 1998, he was 1st violinist in the Indiana University Philharmonic Orchestra and in the Pacific Music Festival Orchestra in Japan, touring and concertizing. To this date, Albert has performed under such great conductors as Kurt Masur of the New York Philharmonic, Christoph Eschenbach of the Philadelphia Orchestra, Myung-Whun Chung (Orchestra of Santa Cecilia, Rome), and Mehli Mehta. In Nov 2001, Albert was personally invited by Maestro Mehli Mehta to record Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration at UCLA with former American Youth Symphony alumni’s.
An active chamber musician as well, Albert has performed chamber music in Japan with Professor Peter Schmidl, principal clarinetist of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. Currently, Albert is First Violinist of the Irvine String Quartet which was invited to perform for the prestigious Taiwanese American Music Festival, sponsored by the Taiwanese American Cultural Association. Upcoming chamber music concerts include performances alongside Berlin Philharmonic members in New York’s Weill Hall. Chamber music was a focal point in 2005 as Albert performed alongside his students in chamber music performances for the Irvine City Council, the OC Philharmonic Society, and dozens of Orange County hospitals and charity organizations. In August 2005, Albert performed chamber music with his students for the Chance Theater’s Annual Fundraiser, during which the Anaheim Arts Concil, the Anaheim Chamber of Commerce, Arts Orange County, the Fullerton College Theater Arts Department, the LA Music Center, the Long Beach Playhouse, Newport Theater Arts Center, and Lufthansa Airlines were all present.
In 2001, Albert participated in six concerts in New York’s Carnegie Hall, performing by special invitation from the New England Symphonic Ensemble. The NESE has also extended an invitation for Albert to perform both as soloist and as an orchestral member in July 2002 in South Africa, England, and Scotland. In June 2003, Albert again performed in Carnegie Hall, this time alongside his private students, in the Four Seasons Youth Symphony. In 2005, Albert founded the Irvine Young Artists (recently renamed the Irvine Young Concert Artists) with friend and violinist Mischa Lakirovich, a youth orchestra dedicated to showcasing a highly dedicated group of artists in bringing awareness and support for the community. IYCA is pleased to be invited to perform in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games in eight concerts, several for national radio and television. The 2008 Tour will also include a four concert tour in a musical collaboration with the Nowon Youth Orchestra in Seoul, Korea.
Currently, Albert Wu performs three violins, an Ansaldo Poggi, a Howard Needham, and an Arlie Moran violin, with bows made by Eugene Sartory, Victor Fetique, Charles Bazin, La Fleur, and Francois Gaulard.