Introducing Henry Wong Doe

Bio

“Pianism in a whole different league, namely: art”. These words from Tel Aviv’s Ha’aretz illustrate Henry Wong Doe’s sincerity and passion for music. Having won “Audience Favourite” prizes at both the Rubinstein and Busoni International Piano Competitions, Henry's performances have enthralled and touched audiences with a style that combines stylistic awareness, sensitivity and emotional depth.

Henry Wong Doe’s performance highlights include venues such as Carnegie Hall, New York, Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh, the Sydney Opera House in Australia and the Mann Auditorium in Tel Aviv, Israel. He has performed twice at the Busoni International Piano Festival in Bolzano, Italy and the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Series in Chicago, and was invited to tour Israel with the Israel Camerata Orchestra during the preliminary stages of the Rubinstein competition. Highlights of this season include debut recitals in Singapore and South Africa, as well as a performance in Belgium at the Brussels Piano Festival. 

Henry has performed with noted orchestras such as the Pittsburgh Symphony, Sydney Symphony, Australian Chamber, and Israel Philharmonic, and collaborated with conductors Christopher Hogwood, Mendi Rodan, Fabio Mechetti and Edvard Tchivzel. Appearances on television and radio include BBC Radio 3 (UK), ABC Classics FM and Channel 9 (Australia), Concert FM and TVNZ (New Zealand), WNYC Radio (New York), WFMT Radio (Chicago), WQED Radio (Pittsburgh), RTBF and Canal La Deux (Belgium), and Kolhamusica (The Musical Voice) Israel.

In New Zealand, Henry Wong Doe has performed with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Auckland Chamber Orchestra and Christchurch Symphony Orchestra. Working with acclaimed conductors as Fabio Mechetti, Michael Christie, Piero Bellugi, and Marko Letonja, he has performed concerti by Rachmaninoff, Prokofieff, Mozart, Grieg, Stravinsky and Beethoven. In the United States, Henry was invited to perform Beethoven's Second Piano Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra during their 2010/11 season.

An avid performer of contemporary music, Henry's debut performance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall in 2008 featured solo and interactive works for piano and computer-controlled piano. Performing on a Yamaha Disklavier Mark IV, the program included the pioneering 1989 interactive work Eight Sketches - duet for one pianist by Jean-Claude Risset as well as a newly composed interactive work by New York based composed Brendan Adamson. An equally passionate supporter of new music from New Zealand, both his 2008 and 2012 recitals at Weill Recital Hall featured solo and chamber works by composer Gareth Farr. Following the 2008 recital, Henry was awarded an arts grant from Creative NZ to record Farr's complete piano works to date. 

Henry Wong Doe has released three commercial recordings. His first disc Horizon (Trust Records MMT 2070), of piano and chamber works by Gareth Farr, was featured on New York's WNYC radio “New Sounds” program.  His second disc, Five in the Sun (Klavier Records K11193) as a member of the Keystone Chamber Players consists of 20th century chamber works for woodwind instruments and piano. His most recent recording Landscape Preludes (Rattle Records RAT D046), a set of 12 short piano works by New Zealand composers) was released last August. Shortly after its release The New Zealand Herald gave it a five star rating, describing it as a "fascinating range of New Zealand landscapes, magnificently caught. If you buy just one Classical album this year, make it Landscape Preludes." In the United States, Jed Distler of ClassicsToday gave the disc a 9/10 rating for both artistic and sound quality, writing “the selections are appreciably varied, well crafted for piano…[Wong Doe] mastered the notes and assimilated the music to the highest standards.”

Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Henry Wong Doe received his early training from Susan Smith-Gaddis, followed by Bryan Sayer at the University of Auckland. In the United States, he received a Masters degree from Indiana University Bloomington, studying with Evelyne Brancart and Leonard Hokanson, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School, studying with Joseph Kalichstein. His doctoral dissertation “Musician or Machine: The Player piano and composers of the Twentieth Century” examined the influence of the player piano on the works of Stravinsky, Hindemith, Nancarrow and Ligeti. A passionate educator as well as performer, Henry Wong Doe serves on the music faculty as Associate Professor of Piano and Keyboard Area Chair at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

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