Benjamin Wu
Lesson Feesfrom $35.00 / 30 Minutes
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About
A musical trailblazer with an insatiable passion for teaching and learning, Benjamin Wu has taught internationally in the United States and Afghanistan and has performed in music festivals and recital halls around the world including in the United States, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Taiwan, Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and in Australia at the world renown Sydney Opera House. He has received lessons and participated in masterclasses from internationally acclaimed teachers such as Kim Kashkashian, Larry Dutton, Nick Cords, Dimitri Murrath, Garth Knox, and Yizhak Schotten. Benjamin Wu has performed Western Classical, American Folk, and Afghan Folk music all around the world, with recent learning in Hindustani and Chinese Classical music.
Benjamin Wu's passion for music is only outpaced by his dedication to his students, and the cause of peacemaking through music. Mr. Wu is currently the sole violin and viola faculty at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, an institute which stands as a pillar in the international music community for its devotion to promoting education and arts learning for young women and underprivileged afghan children. He also currently acts as conductor and artistic director of the Zohra Orchestra, the first all-female orchestra of Afghanistan which has toured countless countries around the world promoting a message of peace and human rights.
Mr. Wu holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree from Stony Brook University, a Master's of Music from New England Conservatory, and a Bachelor's of Music from Peabody Institute of Music. In addition to his performance at the Sydney Opera House, he has conducted the Zohra Orchestra at Monash University, the Pahoda Festival in Slovakia, and the Nasimi Festival in Azerbaijan. As a soloist Mr. Wu has performed at the New York Electronic Music Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, and the Pilzen Music Academy in the Czech Republic; and has given various independently organized solo performances in the United States and Taiwan. As a chamber musician he has twice performed in the Russian Embassy in Kabul, worked with the Boston New Music Initiative, performed at the Iditarod in the Summer Institute of Contemporary Performance Practice, and around New York as part of the Arcopella ensemble. Benjamin Wu has given live performances as a violist with the Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, the Love and Friendship Orchestra, the Baltimore Concerto Orchestra and the Peabody Concert Orchestra. He has recorded Burr Van Nostrand's Voyage in a White Building as part of the New England Conservatory Chamber Orchestra.
Benjamin Wu holds teaching certification in books 1-8 of the Suzuki violin method and 1-4 of the O'Connor method
I favor a holistic teaching style, both in the sense that I approach music from the angle of a performer, a composer, improvisor, and a critic; as well as in the sense that I see my role as a teacher,as being one who teaches life, and happens to do so through the medium of music. I developed this teaching style over the years from teacher trainers Allen Lieb and Ecatarina Gerson at the renowned School for Strings in New York City, and the string camps held by Mark O'Connor. I also incorporate lessons I've learned from my interactions and collaborations with teachers, performers, and improvisors in Jazz, Free Improvisation, Hindustani music, Western classical, and American Folk styles. In New York I have had students go on to be enrolled in Julliard. My students have gone on to take teaching roles, become conductors, and perform internationally.
O’Connor Method Book 1-4 certification, 2017
Suzuki School for Strings Book 1-8 certification, from School for Strings, Manhattan, 2017
D.M.A. Viola Performance Stony Brook University
M.M. Viola Performance New England Conservatory
B.M. Viola Performance Peabody Institute of Music
I am certified in the Suzuki Method, and the O'Connor Method, and have experience in the color strings method as well. I consult all new students in terms of what their own personal goals are in music, so that I know which method, or combination of methods will work best for the student individually.