Clarinetist Mingzhe Wang, native of Wuhan, China, first studied clarinet at the age of 9. His first public performance was at the age of 10 and by age 11 he was admitted to the Wuhan Conservatory and subsequently the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. In 1997, Mr. Wang came to the US to study at the Harid Conservatory of Music at Lynn University, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 2001. He is currently completing the Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Yale University, where he also obtained his Masters degree and Artist Diploma.
A prizewinner in the National Society of Arts and Letters Woodwind Competition (1999), the Orchestral Instrument Competition (2001), and the Yale Woolsey Hall Concerto Competition, Mr. Wang is committed to promote both the music of our time and the classics. He performed the Chinese Premiere of Elliott Carter’s Hiyoku and has worked closely with composers such as Ezra Laderman, Martin Bresnick, Krzystof Penderecki, Aaron Jay Kernis, Lee Hoiby and Chen Yi. In addition, he has performed on period clarinets with prominent groups such as The American Classical Orchestra and the Clarion Music Society Orchestra. As a chamber musician, Mr. Wang has collaborated and continues to work with some of the most prominent young artists such as pianists Ilya Poletaev, Nathan Carterette and Ryo Yanagitani, violinist/violist Owen Dalby, cellists Mihai Marica and Dmitri Atapine. Mr. Wang's performances have been broadcast on both China’s Central Television and New York’s WQXR.
Apart from being an active performer and educator on the clarinet, Mr. Wang is a seasoned singer. He has performed in choruses throughout New England, as well as internationally in the United Kingdom and Hungary. As a founding member of the Yale Schola Cantorum, he has worked with renowned conductors such as Simon Carrington, Helmuth Rilling, Sir David Willcocks, James MacMillan, Sir Neville Marriner, and Kathy Saltzman Romey.
Mr. Wang is currently an assistant professor of clarinet at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. Previously, Mr. Wang taught clarinet to Yale undergraduate students and served on the faculty at the Neighborhood Music School in New Haven, Connecticut. He is a member of the Clarion Music Society Orchestra in New York City, clarinetist and co-artistic director of the Gateway Chamber Ensemble, an active performing group he co-founded in 2008 based in Clarksville, Tennessee, and a sublist member of the Nashville Symphony. As a choral singer, he is a member of the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers.
news/upcoming events
Gateway Chamber Ensemble CD release: Serenades of R. Strauss and Mozart available through Amazon.
July 10, 2010, Recording session, world premiere recording of Lee Hoiby Triple Concerto. APSU, TN.
July 15, 2010, 7pm: Solo Recital, works by Ries, Devienne, Ravel, and Francaix. Okemo Young Artis Program, Okemo Mountain Resort, Vermont.
September 10-13, 2010, Solo Recital, works by Ries, Gade and Zemlinsky; Masterclass. University of Nevada at Reno. Reno, Navada.
September 27, 2010, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble. Works by Haydn, Copland and Barber. APSU, TN.
October 6, 2010, 7:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Choir on APSU Student Woodwind Group recital. APSU, TN.
October 18-19, 2010, 7:30pm(10/18): Solo Recital, works by Devienne, Saint-Saens, Ravel, and Francaix; Masterclass. Murray State University, Murray, KY.
October 25, 2010, 7:30pm: Concert Celebrating R. Schumann. Works by Schumann, Timothy Andres, Kurtag, and Rihm. APSU, TN.
November 8, 2010, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble. Schrecker Chamber Symphony. APSU, TN.
November 17, 2010, 7:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Choir on APSU Student Woodwind Group recital. APSU, TN.
January 24, 2011, 7:30pm: Paul Schoenfield residency at APSU, performing Scheonfield Trio for Clarinet, Violin and Piano. APSU, TN.
February 21, 2011, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble, works by Enescu, Mendelssohn, and Mozart. APSU, TN.
March 2, 2011, 7:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Choir on APSU Student Woodwind Group recital. APSU, TN.
March 14, 2011, Gateway Chamber Ensemble. Works by Enescu, including Chamber Symphony and Dixtuor. APSU, TN.
March 20, 2011, 7:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Choir on APSU Student Woodwind Group recital. APSU, TN.
April 4, 2011, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble. Works by Schoenberg, Wagner and Johann Strauss II. APSU, TN.
Past events
February 9, 2008, 9am: Mingzhe Wang conducted a clinic for nearly 40 high school clarinetists on the campus of Austin Peay State University.
February 25, 2008, 7:30pm: Performance of Jospeh Schwantner's Canticle of the Evening Bells for APSU Dimension New Music Series, APSU.
March 9, 2008, 3pm: Performance in Washington D. C. with Opera Lafayette on 18th century period instruments.
March 13, 2008, 7:30pm: Performance of Prokofiev Quintet on APSU campus.
March 31, 2008, Solo Recital and Masterclass at Arkansas Tech University.
April 11, 2008, 5:30pm: Solo Recital, APSU.
April 17, 2008, 4pm: Performance of Michael Daugherty Clarinet Concerto with Greg Wolynec and the APSU Wind Ensemble at the Tennessee Music Education Association Conference in Nashville, TN.
April 22, 2008, 7:30pm: Performance of Michael Daugherty Clarinet Concerto, APSU.
April 24, 2008, 5:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Ensemble Concert. Soloist in Steve Reich's New York Counterpoint.
April 27, 2008, 3:00pm: Guest Clarinetist, Howard Helvey's O Quam Gloriosum for Chamber Chorus and Solo Clarinet, APSU CHamber Singers, Karen Kenaston-French.
May 8, 2008, 7:30pm: Performance of Verdi Requiem as a choral singer with Nashvile Symphony and Nashville Symphony Chorus, Nashville TN.
May 9, 10, 2008, 8pm: Performance of Verdi Requiem as a choral singer with Nashvile Symphony and Nashville Symphony Chorus, Nashville TN.
October 16-18, 2008, 8pm: Performing as solo vocalist in Chen Yi's Percussion Concerto with Nashville Symphony Orchestra and Giancarlo Guerrero, Conductor, Nashville, TN.
October 19, 2008, 7:30pm: Clarinet Soloist in Weber Concertino with APSU Symphony Orchestra and Greg Wolynec, Conductor, APSU, TN.
October 27, 2008, 7:30pm: Arnold Schoenberg Chamber Symphony, op. 9 with APSU Faculty Ensemble in APSU Dimension New Music Series, APSU, TN.
February 2, 2009, 7:30: APSU Chamber Winds Serenades of Strauss and Mozart, APSU, TN.
February 11, 2009, 8pm: American Classical Orchestra, all Haydn program on period instruments. NYC.
March 2, 2009, 7:30pm: Dimensions New Music Series, Music of Elliott Carter and Olivier Messiaen Quartet for the End of Time, APSU, TN.
March 20, 2009, 7:30pm: Solo Recital with guest pianist Ilya Poletaev, APSU, TN.
March 27, 2009, 6:30pm: Bachanalia. Performing JS Bach Trio Sonata, BWV 527, Christ Cathedral, Nashville, TN.
April 23, 2009, 7:30pm: Soloist in APSU Percussion Ensemble concert, APSU, TN.
May 5, 2009, 8pm: Performing Brahms Clarinet Quintet in Sudler Hall, New Haven, CT.
May 13, 2009, 7:30pm: Performing JS Bach b Minor Mass with Yale Schola Cantorum at the Goyang Civic Center, Seoul, South Korea.
May 15, 2009, 2pm: Choral Workshop at Central Conservatory of Music, Beijing, China.
May 17, 2009, 7:30pm: Bach b Minor Mass at Forbidden City Concert Hall, Beijing China.
May 19, 2009, 7:30pm: Bach b Minor Mass at Oriental Art Center, Shanghai, China.
May 30, 2009, 12noon: Simon carrington Chamber Singers concert at holy Trinity episcopal Cathedral, Kansas City, MO.
May 30, 2009, 7:30pm: Simon Carrington Chamber Singers concert at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, Lawrence, KS.
June 27-28, 2009, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber ensemble recording sessions, Clarksville, TN.
September 14, 2009, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble, Dimensions New Music Series, featuring works by Darius Milhaus, APSU, TN
September 22, 2009, 8pm: Benny Goodman Celebration Concert, performing work by Morton Gould, Sprague Hall, New Haven, CT
September 26, 2009, 8pm: Benny Goodman Celebration Concert, performing work by Morton Gould, Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall, New York City.
October 7, 2009, 7:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Choir in Concert, APSU, TN
October 12, 2009, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble Woodwind Quintet Concert, featuring works by Janacek, Nielsen and more, APSU, TN.
November 16, 2009, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble Wind Serenade Concert, featuring works by Dvorak and Richard Strauss, APSU, TN.
November 18, 2009, 7:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Choir in Concert, APSU, TN
December 2, 2009, 7pm: Recital at Houston Baptist University Concert Hall, Houston, TX.
December 9, 2009, 10:15am: Young Person's Concert 2, Nashville Symphony, Pictures at an Exibition, Schermerhorn, Nashville, TN
December 10, 2009, 7:30pm: Nashville Symphony Christmas Concert, Schermerhorn, Nashville, TN
December 19, 2009, 11am: Pied Piper Concert, Nashville Symphony, Schermerhorn, Nashville, TN
February 20, 2010, 7:30pm: Lee Hoiby Triple Concerto world premiere, APSU, TN
February 22, 2010, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble Nonet Concert, featuring works by Spohr and Martinu, APSU, TN
February 24, 2010, 2:30pm: Lee Hoiby Triple Concerto, Ford Center for the Performing Arts, University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS
March 3, 2010, 7:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Choir in Concert, APSU, TN
March 22, 2010, 7:30pm: Gateway Chamber Ensemble, Dimensions New Music Series, featuring works by Chen Yi, APSU, TN
April 7, 2010, 7:30pm: Directing APSU Clarinet Choir in Concert, APSU, TN
April 21, 2010,1pm: Chamber Music Recital, Niels Gade Fantasy Pieces and Beethoven Trio, op. 11. Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT.