Soloist Feature: He Wu
With just a few days to go before our 2017-18 launch concert La Vie Parisienne on 10 October, we feature the Chinese soprano He Wu who will be performing famous arias by Offenbach and Bizet…
Chinese-born soprano He Wu started her career as a child star. Her selection as a Young Artist at the National Opera Studio brought her to London where she was supported by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. She then studied at the Royal Academy of Music, Guildhall School of Music & Drama, and Royal College of Music International Opera School.
After being selected as a Samling Scholar, in 2015 she won the Lies Askonas Singing Competition, the Voice of China European Competition, and was a finalist in the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Competition, as well as the Francisco Viñas International Singing Competition.
Here is a sample of this wonderful voice from Massenet’s opera Manon with ‘Je marche sur tous le chemins’:
On the concert platform she has sung as soloist in the Beethoven Symphony No.9 with the Wiener Symphoniker, Mahler Symphony No.2 with the BBC Symphony Orchestra, Vivaldi Gloria and Mozart Exsultate Jubilate with the Amersham Festival Orchestra, Beethoven Mass in C and Choral Fantasy at St John’s Smith Square, and the Classical Morning concert at Royal Albert Hall.
He Wu has also given recitals in the LSO Schubert Series at the Barbican Centre, ‘Opera Roots’ at the King’s Place and ‘Opera Night’ at Mallorca Music Festival, Spain. She also gave recitals in Barcelona, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Abu Dhabi.
Here are some of He Wu’s major opera engagements to date:
• Daiyu in the Chinese première of San Francisco Opera production ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’
• Receptionist in the ENO’s world première of Tansy Davies’s ‘Between Worlds’
• Königen der Nacht in ‘Die Zauberflöte’ at the RCM Britten Theatre
• Marie in ‘La Fille du Régiment’;
• Princesse & Le Feu in ‘L’enfant et les sortilèges’.
• Diana in ‘Giove in Argo’ at the London Handel Festival
• Susanna in ‘Le nozze di Figaro’ with Opera North
• Amor in ‘Orfeo ed Eurydice’ at the Longborough Festival Opera.
During President Xi’s 2015 visit to the UK, He Wu was honoured to be invited to sing for the First Lady of China Madam Peng at the Royal College of Music. First Lady Peng Liyuan is a famous folk singer in her native China.