274: Yung-chiao Wei on overcoming challenges, Carnegie Hall recitals, and living through music

I had the good fortune to meet Yung-chiao Wei back in 2000 at the Pacific Music Festival in Japan.  She was wrapping up her time with the New World Symphony and was just about to start new new position at Louisiana State University.

The rich double bass culture she has created the past decade-and-a-half is remarkable.  

In addition to creating the Louisiana Bass Fest, Yung-chio has propelled her students into all sorts of "next steps" like:

• winning auditions such as tenured Principal Bassist and Assistant Principal Bassist in the Baton Rouge Symphony and the Acadiana Symphony
• Assistant Principal Bassist of the Taipei Symphony Orchestra
• going to prestigious music schools with full scholarships at the Juilliard School, Yale University, Eastman School of Music and Cincinnati Conservatory
• teaching at at the Cincinnati Conservatory and Southeastern Louisiana University
• founding the Brava Orchestra, an youth orchestra in Brazil, with a mission to bring music to the poor
• becoming the Executive Director at New York Baroque Incorporated

Talk about having an impact on future generations of musicians!

Yung-chiao and I dig into all kinds of topics, like:

• how playing Brahms makes her feel alive
• the Tai-chi horse stance and how it applies to bass playing
• overcoming some of her physical limitations
• over-practicing and how to avoid it
• her solo recordings
• the value of creating a bass festival

...and much more!

Be sure to subscribe to Contrabass Conversations to get these episodes delivered automatically to your mobile device!

Links to check out:

• D'Addario strings giveaway!
• Yung-chiao's website
• Yung-chio's YouTube channel
• Yung-chiao's faculty page at LSU
• Yung-chiao Wei Plays Brahms, Elgar, Yen and Tommasini (her latest CD)
• Yung-chiao’s first CD
• Yung-chiao on Facebook
• Tai Chi horse stance (YouTube)

Links from news and listener feedback:

• winningtheaudition.net (my new book!)
• my appearance on TEM podcast
• notablevalues.com (Susan Weger's site on musical entrepreneurship)
• video featuring Normand Guilbeault from Montreal
• Dan Pink and why you should write a failure resume (from Jerry Fuller)

Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Contrabass Conversations!

The 10th anniversary of Contrabass Conversations will happen on January 1, 2017!  Call into our special voicemail line at (415) 952-5643 and leave a message telling me a thing or two about yourself like:

• your name
• where you live
• how long you’ve played bass
• where you play
• when you discovered the podcast
• your favorite episode(s)

Thanks to our sponsor!

This episode is brought to you by D’Addario Strings! Check out their Zyex strings, which are synthetic core strings that produce an extremely warm, rich sound. Get the sound and feel of gut strings with more evenness, projection and stability than real gut.

Enter the D’Addario strings giveaway for Contrabass Conversations listeners at contrabassconversations.com/strings!