Praised for her “incisive technique and an exceptionally rich and beautiful tone,” violinist Wanchi Huang performs a fascinating group of compositions written by a beautifully curated selection of noted composers on IMAGINING WORLDS from Navona Records. Huang’s virtuosic performance takes listeners on a dynamic voyage through the elegant grandeur of the baroque era to the historic hilltops of Italy, passing through reflections on our darkest moments and soaring towards the brighter days that lie ahead.
Today, Wanchi is our featured artist in the “Inside Story,” a blog series exploring the inner workings and personalities of our composers and performers. Read on to learn more about her passion for working with animals and why she’d visit J.S. Bach if given a time machine…
Tell us about your first performance.
My first performance was a recording experience (when I was about 3). I don’t know if this counts as my first performance, but it certainly felt like it at the time. We had this new giant speaker system at home (to a small child everything seemed enormous), and I sang the Taiwanese version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star while holding a humongous microphone with both hands. I vividly remember my dad telling me I must hold it with both hands, so I don’t drop it, and after that I heard his voice and my singing voice in the play back, and I was overly excited and thought it was the coolest experience in the world.
If you weren’t a musician, what would you be doing?
(My husband says, “Professional Nagger!” But no…) I love taking an object or a concept apart from big to small and putting them back together. Taking time to work or think about the intricate details and processes necessary to build beautiful and amazing products or ideas is very satisfying. I love to do anything that requires such processes. Deep cleaning as a profession of any sort is a good example of what I could be doing if I were not a musician.
If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?
I think if I could travel in a time machine, I would love to collaborate with J.S. Bach. I think it is astounding that his compositions carry such timeless quality and therefore are not limited to only the classic genres. His compositions have been recreated for various modern styles from pop to jazz, rap, and rock and roll. Very cool!
What advice would you give to your younger self if given the chance?
To rise above pettiness and not be manipulated or controlled by anything beyond me and enjoy the process of doing so.
What emotions do you hope listeners will experience after hearing your work?
I hope my listeners will experience a full range of emotions and that each emotion evokes memories of life experiences, from jovial, light-hearted ones to pensive, conflicted, and intense ones.
What are your passions beyond music?
I love indulging in long naps if time allows. It’s the most gratifying and comforting activity after a meal, a long productive practice, or an exhausting day of work. I also love furry animals and all the work that comes from playing with them and taking care of them. They are worth it!
Huang is the Full Professor of Violin at James Madison University School of Music and contributes to the community as a concertmaster of the Waynesboro Symphony. Her recordings of the complete Sonatas of Eugène Ysaÿe, Partitas and Sonatas of J.S. Bach for unaccompanied violin, and music by William Walton and Benjamin Britten in a collaboration with longtime friend and pianist Robert Koenig, are all on the Centaur Records label, have been excellently reviewed. “. . . her incisive technique and an exceptionally rich and beautiful tone. . .” was noted by Phil's Classical Reviews, Audio Video Club of Atlanta.
