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A bulletin board outside of the Alice Tully Hall, home of Lincoln Center's Chamber Music Society, salutes co-artistic directors, David Finckel and Wu Han, 2012 Musicians of the Year by Musical America, for creating "a revolution in the traditionally quiet world of chamber music." (Pamela Tsai/The Epoch Times)
NEW YORK—From Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky, Isaac Stern to Herbert von Karajan, Kurt Masur and Yo-Yo Ma, musicians of our time are not only representatives in the halls of the fame, but also social harbingers that embrace the idealism and aspirations held by a collective whole.
Joining this prominent list of Musicians of the Year, a prestigious award given annually by Musical America, a publication that has been considered the bible of the performing arts industry for the past century, are cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, a husband and wife duo.
Co-artistic directors of such premier arts organizations as the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in New York City and Music@Menlo in San Francisco, and the first to launch their own Internet-based record label AristLed, the husband and wife team has emerged as one of the most dynamic advocates of classical music to a wider audience, and on an international scale.
In a special award ceremony held in Lincoln Center in New York on Dec. 5, the couple shared the stage with four other honorees—Composer of the Year, Meredith Monk; Conductor of the Year, Jaap Van Zweden; Instrumentalist of the Year, Gil Shaham; and Vocalist of the Year, Jonas Kaufmann.
Sedgwick Clark, Editor of Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts introduced the couple as a force to “create a revolution in the traditionally quiet world of chamber music—in the process building new audiences and rearing a new wave of players.”
The couple, who flew in from Germany after completing their second residency there, accepted the award with great humility.
Cellist of the renowned Emerson String Quartet, David Finckel has participated in over 30 acclaimed recordings produced by Deutsche Grammophon. He has won nine Grammy Awards and three Gramophone Awards. He has studied with the Russian cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, in fact, he was Rostropovich’s first American student.
Pianist Wu Han, a native of Taiwan who has a stellar career in the United States as a chamber musician, has worked closely with and taught chamber music alongside the legendary Isaac Stern.
In accepting the award, Finckel said the collaboration with his wife has lead to “a vibrant marriage and a precious daughter.”
We have accomplished much more together than we could have separately.
“We have accomplished much more together than we could have separately,” he said.
He described himself and his wife as artists who are “painfully idealistic.” “We recognize that our idealism, when music is at stake, may well have played a role in bringing us here tonight. Our objectives remain the same: to make music in the best and the most honest way we know how and to share our love of the music with as many as possible.”
In an interview with The Epoch Times prior to the award ceremony, David Finckel said he believed the award took into account their wide-ranging artistic endeavors in the service of music, which included their playing, teaching, and their administration of the arts.
The couple’s more detailed interview is presented here.
Wu Han with Sedgwick Clark, Editor of Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts. (Pamela Tsai/The Epoch Times)
The Epoch Times: Were you surprised by this honor?
Wu Han: If you look at the list, this award is reserved for superstars. We never see ourselves that way.
ET: In the ever-changing music industry, how do you stay ahead?
David Finckel: We are always on a mission. It is our job to keep developing ourselves artistically no matter how old we get, no matter how famous we become. We are always working on ourselves to become better, to become better artists. That work never stops. The minute you sense somebody is relaxing, satisfied with their artistic state, they become much less interesting. The artists who are really interesting are the ones who are always in the process of developing. They are the ones that provoke interest—renewed interest in public, year after year.
Wu Han: You can have talent, you can be smart, but they are not enough to sustain you. You just have to work hard. There is no other way around it. There is also no such a thing as good luck. You have to continuously refine yourselves. I feel [it is] my hard work … being rewarded. I don’t think I am more special than anybody else.
We just know we love working hard, doing things for other people, trying to do the best as we can when playing everything we do.
ET: What does the award mean to you as a chamber musician?
Wu Han: I think it is fantastic to have our industry acknowledged with such an honor—for the art form’s sake, not for me and David’s stake. This award gives us a very solid credential to work even harder for this art form.
I think the understanding and appreciation of chamber music is simply not as deep today. I know that because I travel so much, sit on so many auditions, award panels, competition juries. There is a lot of catch up to do. Especially in the Far East, people are often dazzled by fast playing, who can play loud and fast. There aren’t enough efforts put into training complete musicians to understand why we play music—slow movement of graceful playing that brings tears to your eyes. We need to train musicians who can carry that mission.
ET: David, you said “passing the torch became a huge priority in our lives.” What motivates you in arts education?
Continued on the next page: Inspiring the next generation …
