David Oei
Encyclopedia
David Oei is a classical pianist
(b. 1950 in Hong Kong
).
Oei was born in Hong Kong, into a family that had emigrated from Amoy (Xiamen
), Fujian
in 1934 to open a branch of The China & South Sea Bank
founded by his great grandfather Oei Ik-Tjoe (黃奕住; pinyin: Huang Yizhu). In Hong Kong, he began studying classical piano at the age of four with Tu Yuet-Sien (屠月仙). At the age of nine, after winning eleven first prizes at the Hong Kong Music Festival, he was a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
. At the age of ten he immigrated to the United States
by winning a full scholarship to study with Mieczysław Munz at the Peabody Conservatory and later accepted a full scholarship to study with Munz and Ilona Kabos at the Juilliard School
from 1964 to 1972, leaving a year short of graduation to perform with Peter Schickele
as a member of The Intimate P. D. Q. Bach
until 1985. During that same period he also founded the Aspen Soloists, a piano trio
that toured extensively under CAMI
management. He attended the Interlochen Music Camp from 1963 to 1967 and won the concerto competition in each of those five years. He also won the Concert Artists Guild, WQXR
Young Artists, Young Musicians Foundation, and Paul Ulanowsky
Chamber Pianists competitions. He became a naturalized
U.S. citizen
on November 20, 1985.
He made his first appearance on U.S. network television on February 22, 1966, on one of the famous Young People's Concerts
conducted by Leonard Bernstein
(the episode was entitled "Pictures at an Exhibition
").
Oei has performed with such major orchestras as the New York Philharmonic
, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
, Orchestra of St. Luke's
, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
. In addition, he has performed with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
and is also noted as a performer of the works of P. D. Q. Bach
. He appeared on television in Leonard Bernstein
's Young People's Concerts
, as well as on The Today Show and CBS News Sunday Morning
. He has recorded for the ADDA
, Arabesque, CRI
, Delos
, Albany
, Grenadilla, New World
, Festival Chamber Music, Pro Arte, and Vanguard
labels. He is the founding director of the Salon Chamber Soloists and a member of the Festival Chamber Music, Friends Of Mozart and the Elysium and Ecliptica Chamber Ensembles. He is a member of a duo with the Korean-born violinist Chin Kim
, with which he has recorded and gives annual concerts. He also performs in a piano duo (performing music for piano four hands as well as for two pianos) with Helene Jeanney, which gives frequent concerts.
In addition to a busy schedule as a chamber musician and soloist, Oei teaches at Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, New York
and in the Preparatory Division at Mannes College of Music
. During the summer he teaches at Summertrios and the Bennington Chamber Music Conference. A former regular fixture at Chamber Music Northwest
and Bargemusic
, he performs at various festivals including Sitka
, Caramoor
, OK Mozart, Washington Square Music Festival, and Kuhmo
. He has served as an affiliated teacher at the State University of New York at Purchase
and he was the Volunteers Coordinator and Head Coach for the Manhattan
Special Olympics
.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, Oei also served for five years as the Music Director and Production Advisor for Music-Theatre Group's productions of Stanley Silverman and Richard Foreman
's Africanis Instructus and Love and Science. In July 2001 he served as the Music Director for the Sundance Theater Workshop production of the opera Yiddisha Teddy Bears (with score by Stewart Wallace
and libretto by Richard Foreman).
Since 2009, David has been a member of the Alaria Chamber Ensemble (www.alaria.org), the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Mannes College of Music Extension Division in New York City. Alaria teaches a year-round music program called Chamber Music at Mannes to both adults and diploma students. Since 1984, the Ensemble has presented an annual series at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Oei lives in New York City
with his wife, the violinist Eriko Sato. He was the owner of Carlyle Wines, a wine
shop that was located on Manhattan's Upper East Side
.
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
(b. 1950 in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
).
Oei was born in Hong Kong, into a family that had emigrated from Amoy (Xiamen
Xiamen
Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...
), Fujian
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
in 1934 to open a branch of The China & South Sea Bank
The China & South Sea Bank
The China & South Sea Bank Limited was established in 1921 in Shanghai as a commercial bank. It was founded by Huang Yizhu and Xu Jingren who were overseas Chinese from Indonesia. The bank became one of the few Chinese owned banks to gain public confidence and its banknotes were widely...
founded by his great grandfather Oei Ik-Tjoe (黃奕住; pinyin: Huang Yizhu). In Hong Kong, he began studying classical piano at the age of four with Tu Yuet-Sien (屠月仙). At the age of nine, after winning eleven first prizes at the Hong Kong Music Festival, he was a soloist with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra
The Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra , is the largest symphony orchestra in Hong Kong. First established in 1895 as an amateur orchestra, under the name Sino-British Orchestra, it was renamed the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra in 1957, and became a professional orchestra in 1974 under the funding...
. At the age of ten he immigrated to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by winning a full scholarship to study with Mieczysław Munz at the Peabody Conservatory and later accepted a full scholarship to study with Munz and Ilona Kabos at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
from 1964 to 1972, leaving a year short of graduation to perform with Peter Schickele
Peter Schickele
Johann Peter Schickele is an American composer, musical educator, and parodist. He is best known for his comedy music albums featuring his music that he presents as music written by the fictional composer P. D. Q...
as a member of The Intimate P. D. Q. Bach
The Intimate P. D. Q. Bach
The Intimate P. D. Q. Bach is "a live recording of The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach stage show, featuring Professor Peter Schickele and the Semi-Pro Musica Antiqua" and was released on Vanguard Records in 1973. Many of the performer credits are humorous, and as with all P.D.Q...
until 1985. During that same period he also founded the Aspen Soloists, a piano trio
Piano trio
A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello, or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music...
that toured extensively under CAMI
Columbia Artists Management
Columbia Artists Management is an international leader in managing the careers and touring activities of the world's most prominent performing artists and institutions.Led by Chairman and CEO Ronald A...
management. He attended the Interlochen Music Camp from 1963 to 1967 and won the concerto competition in each of those five years. He also won the Concert Artists Guild, WQXR
WQXR-FM
WQXR-FM is an American classical radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, and serving the New York City metropolitan area. It is the most-listened-to classical-music station in the United States, with an average quarter-hour audience of 63,000...
Young Artists, Young Musicians Foundation, and Paul Ulanowsky
Paul Ulanowsky
Paul Alexander Theodore Ulanowsky was an Austrian-American pianist, accompanist, vocal coach, and music educator of Austrian and Ukrainian decent. He began his career as the pianist for the Vienna Philharmonic from 1927-1935...
Chamber Pianists competitions. He became a naturalized
Naturalization
Naturalization is the acquisition of citizenship and nationality by somebody who was not a citizen of that country at the time of birth....
U.S. citizen
United States nationality law
Article I, section 8, clause 4 of the United States Constitution expressly gives the United States Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. The Immigration and Naturalization Act sets forth the legal requirements for the acquisition of, and divestiture from, citizenship of...
on November 20, 1985.
He made his first appearance on U.S. network television on February 22, 1966, on one of the famous Young People's Concerts
Young People's Concerts
The Young People's Concerts at the New York Philharmonic are the longest-running series of family concerts of classical music in the world.-Genesis:...
conducted by Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
(the episode was entitled "Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition
Pictures at an Exhibition is a suite in ten movements composed for piano by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky in 1874.The suite is Mussorgsky's most famous piano composition, and has become a showpiece for virtuoso pianists...
").
Oei has performed with such major orchestras as the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District.-History:...
, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is a professional American symphony orchestra based in Baltimore, Maryland.In September 2007, Maestra Marin Alsop led her inaugural concerts as the Orchestra’s twelfth music director, making her the first woman to head a major American orchestra.The BSO Board...
, Orchestra of St. Luke's
Orchestra of St. Luke's
The Orchestra of St. Luke's is an American chamber orchestra based in New York City.It was founded in the summer of 1979 at the Caramoor International Music Festival in Katonah, New York....
, and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra
The Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is a Grammy Award-winning classical music chamber orchestra based in New York City. It is known for its collaborative leadership style in which the musicians, not a conductor, interpret the score....
. In addition, he has performed with The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center
The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center is an American organization dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. Its website states that it is "the nation’s premier repertory company for chamber music."...
and is also noted as a performer of the works of P. D. Q. Bach
P. D. Q. Bach
P. D. Q. Bach is a fictitious composer invented by musical satirist "Professor" Peter Schickele. In a gag that Schickele has developed over a five-decade-long career, he performs "discovered" works of this forgotten member of the Bach family...
. He appeared on television in Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
's Young People's Concerts
Young People's Concerts
The Young People's Concerts at the New York Philharmonic are the longest-running series of family concerts of classical music in the world.-Genesis:...
, as well as on The Today Show and CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning
CBS News Sunday Morning is an American television news magazine program created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt. The program has aired continuously since January 28, 1979 on the CBS Television Network, airing in the Eastern US on Sunday from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m...
. He has recorded for the ADDA
Adda
Adda can refer to:*Adda in Italy.*River Adda in Wales.*Adda , a concept/slang in South Asia, especial Bengal, also Addabazi.*Adda , an archaeological site in Nigeria.*Adda Corporation, a Taiwanese fan manufacturer....
, Arabesque, CRI
Composers Recordings, Inc.
Composers Recordings, Inc. was an American record label dedicated to the recording of contemporary classical music by American composers. It was founded in 1954 by Otto Luening, Douglas Moore, and Oliver Daniel, and based in New York City....
, Delos
Delos
The island of Delos , isolated in the centre of the roughly circular ring of islands called the Cyclades, near Mykonos, is one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece...
, Albany
Albany Records
Albany Records is an American classical music record label focusing particularly on contemporary classical music. It was established by Peter Kermani in 1987, and is based in Albany, New York.-External links:**...
, Grenadilla, New World
New World Records
New World Records is a record label based in New York City specialising in American music. The label was established in 1975 through a Rockefeller Foundation grant to produce a 100 disc anthology covering 200 years of American music....
, Festival Chamber Music, Pro Arte, and Vanguard
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
labels. He is the founding director of the Salon Chamber Soloists and a member of the Festival Chamber Music, Friends Of Mozart and the Elysium and Ecliptica Chamber Ensembles. He is a member of a duo with the Korean-born violinist Chin Kim
Chin kim
Chin Kim is a Korean-born American classical violinist, largely educated in the United States through the Juilliard School, and the Curtis Institute of Music.-Activities:...
, with which he has recorded and gives annual concerts. He also performs in a piano duo (performing music for piano four hands as well as for two pianos) with Helene Jeanney, which gives frequent concerts.
In addition to a busy schedule as a chamber musician and soloist, Oei teaches at Hoff-Barthelson Music School in Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale, New York
Scarsdale is a coterminous town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the northern suburbs of New York City. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several villages...
and in the Preparatory Division at Mannes College of Music
Mannes College of Music
Mannes College The New School for Music is The New School university's music conservatory. While the university's main campus is located in Greenwich Village, New York City, Mannes maintains its main academic building on the Upper West Side of Manhattan....
. During the summer he teaches at Summertrios and the Bennington Chamber Music Conference. A former regular fixture at Chamber Music Northwest
Chamber Music Northwest
Chamber Music Northwest is an American non-profit organization in Portland, Oregon that is dedicated to the performance and promotion of chamber music. The organization's main presentation is an annual five-week summer festival that occurs during the months of June and July...
and Bargemusic
Bargemusic
Bargemusic, formally known as Bargemusic, Ltd. is a classical music venue and cultural icon in Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 1977, it is housed on a converted coffee barge moored at Fulton Ferry Landing on the East River near the Brooklyn Bridge....
, he performs at various festivals including Sitka
Sitka Summer Music Festival
The Sitka Summer Music Festival is a month-long classical chamber music festival in the community of Sitka, Alaska.-About:The festival takes place in early summer during the month of June with three groupings of musicians...
, Caramoor
Caramoor International Music Festival
The Caramoor International Music Festival is a summer music festival founded in 1945 that is held on the estate of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts Inc., which includes a Mediterranean-style stucco villa and is located about north of New York City in Katonah, New York.The Caramoor...
, OK Mozart, Washington Square Music Festival, and Kuhmo
Kuhmo
Kuhmo is a town and a municipality in Finland and is part of the Kainuu region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . It has a borderline of with Russia....
. He has served as an affiliated teacher at the State University of New York at Purchase
State University of New York at Purchase
Purchase College, State University of New York, is a public four-year college located in Purchase, New York, United States. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York system...
and he was the Volunteers Coordinator and Head Coach for the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
Special Olympics
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....
.
Beginning in the mid-1980s, Oei also served for five years as the Music Director and Production Advisor for Music-Theatre Group's productions of Stanley Silverman and Richard Foreman
Richard Foreman
Richard Foreman is an American playwright and avant-garde theater pioneer. He is the founder of the Ontological-Hysteric Theater.-Life :...
's Africanis Instructus and Love and Science. In July 2001 he served as the Music Director for the Sundance Theater Workshop production of the opera Yiddisha Teddy Bears (with score by Stewart Wallace
Stewart Wallace
Stewart Wallace is an American composer and cantor. He has spent much of his career composing experimental operas, from the dance-centered Kabbalah to the surrealist Hopper's Wife...
and libretto by Richard Foreman).
Since 2009, David has been a member of the Alaria Chamber Ensemble (www.alaria.org), the Ensemble-in-Residence at the Mannes College of Music Extension Division in New York City. Alaria teaches a year-round music program called Chamber Music at Mannes to both adults and diploma students. Since 1984, the Ensemble has presented an annual series at the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Oei lives in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with his wife, the violinist Eriko Sato. He was the owner of Carlyle Wines, a wine
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...
shop that was located on Manhattan's Upper East Side
Upper East Side
The Upper East Side is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, between Central Park and the East River. The Upper East Side lies within an area bounded by 59th Street to 96th Street, and the East River to Fifth Avenue-Central Park...
.
Discography
- 1974: The Intimate P. D. Q. BachThe Intimate P. D. Q. BachThe Intimate P. D. Q. Bach is "a live recording of The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach stage show, featuring Professor Peter Schickele and the Semi-Pro Musica Antiqua" and was released on Vanguard Records in 1973. Many of the performer credits are humorous, and as with all P.D.Q...
: John Ferrante (countertenorCountertenorA countertenor is a male singing voice whose vocal range is equivalent to that of a contralto, mezzo-soprano, or a soprano, usually through use of falsetto, or far more rarely than normal, modal voice. A pre-pubescent male who has this ability is called a treble...
), David Oei (piano) Vanguard - 1978: Karel HusaKarel HusaKarel Husa is a Czech-born classical composer and conductor, winner of the 1969 Pulitzer Prize and 1993 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Music Composition...
Sonata: Elmar Oliveira (violin), David Oei (piano) New World - 1980: PDQ Bach Liebeslieder PolkasLiebeslieder PolkasLiebeslieder Polkas is recording of the music of Peter Schickele under his comic pseudonym of P. D. Q. Bach,. It describes itself as "the first opus of P.D.Q...
: David Oei (piano), Anne Epperson (piano) Vanguard - 1984: Peter Schickele Clarinet Quartet: Eriko Sato (violin), Fred SherryFred SherryFred Sherry is an American cello virtuoso who is particularly admired for his work as a chamber musician and concert soloist. He studied with Leonard Rose at the Juilliard School before winning the Young Concert Artists International Auditions in 1968. In 1971 he co-founded the Speculum Musicae...
(cello), David Shifrin (clarinet), David Oei (piano) Vanguard - 1989: SchumannRobert SchumannRobert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
& GriegEdvard GriegEdvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
: Sonia Wieder-Atherton (cello), David Oei (piano) ADDA - 1989: David Schiff: Gimpel the Fool: Theodore Arm (violin), Warren Lash (cello), David ShifrinDavid ShifrinDavid Shifrin is an American classical clarinetist.-Performances:He has performed clarinet concertos with many major orchestras around the world....
(clarinet), David Oei (piano) Delos - 1990: Miriam GideonMiriam GideonMiriam Gideon was an American composer.-Life:She studied organ with her uncle Henry Gideon and piano with Felix Fox. She also studied with Martin Bernstein, Marion Bauer, Charles Haubiel, and Jacques Pillois...
Retrospective: Patricia Spencer (flute), David Oei (piano) New World - 1993: ProkofievSergei ProkofievSergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
Violin Sonata No. 2Violin Sonata No. 2 (Prokofiev)Sergei Prokofiev's Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94 bis, was based on the composer's own Flute Sonata in D, Op. 94, written in 1942 but arranged for violin in 1943 when Prokofiev was living in Perm in the Ural Mountains, a remote shelter for Soviet artists during the Secord World War...
: Chin Kim (violin), David Oei (piano) Pro Arte - 1995: Alec WilderAlec WilderAlec Wilder was an American composer.-Biography:...
Works For Horn: David Jolley (horn), David Oei (piano) Arabesque - 1997: Old Friends: Christopher LeeChristopher LeeSir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee, CBE, CStJ is an English actor and musician. Lee initially portrayed villains and became famous for his role as Count Dracula in a string of Hammer Horror films...
(violin), David Oei (piano) Quattro Corde - 2004: Karel Husa Recollections: Quintet of the Americas, David Oei (piano) New World
- 2005: Donald Crockett Ceiling Of Heaven: Renee Jolles (violin), Nicolas Cords (viola), Edward Aaron (cello), David Oei (piano) Albany
- 2007: StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
and RachmaninoffSergei RachmaninoffSergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
Sonatas: Ruth Sommers (cello), David Oei (piano) FCM - 2008: The Lay of Love and Death of the Cornet Christoph Rilke by Viktor UllmannViktor UllmannViktor Ullmann was a Silesia-born Austrian, later Czech composer, conductor and pianist of Jewish origin.- Biography :...
: David Oei (piano), Lutz Rath (speaker) - 2010: Five Not-So-Easy Pieces: David Oei (piano), Eriko Sato (violin) Prestissimo
External links
- David Oei biography from Festival Chamber Music site
- David Oei biography from Summertrios site
- David Oei biography from Hoff-Barthelson Music School site