Pianist Yongmei Hu will perform a recital at the Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University on Sunday.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to the Malibu Times
For some years now, China has been exporting a profusion of artistic talent: among them, architect I.M. Pei, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, film director Yimou Zhang and concert pianists Lang Lang and Yundi Li. A name that can be added to the list of artistry coming from China is Yongmei Hu, Malibu resident and classical pianist.
In a recent interview, Hu spoke of her musical beginnings.
Born in Shanghai to parents whose interest in music was “mostly amateur,” Hu started playing when she was five years old and was recognized as a prodigy early on. She soloed at the nationally celebrated Shanghai Spring Festival at the age of 10, and entered the Shanghai Conservatory of Music at the age of 12. But a relocation to California in her teens opened her eyes to all the possibilities of American culture and, when speaking with her father about what she wanted to study, her answer surprised him.
“I said I wanted to study business administration,” she said laughing.
However, her parents convinced her that her native talent deserved more consideration and she earned a bachelor’s degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Hu then eschewed a scholarship offer from Julliard to enter the master’s program at USC, where her mentor was Aube Tzerko, an assistant to legendary pianist Arthur Schnabel.
“Mr. Tzerko is known as ‘Distinguished Teacher of Artists.’ His teaching was different from others because his principle is to plant a seed for future growth. So you become very well rounded,” Hu said. “He always said that if you are not completely fascinated with what you are playing, go on to something else.”
Hu has adapted Tzerko’s techniques to her own teaching methods.
“I have students entering graduate programs in UCLA and I also teach kids four and five years old,” she said. “It is important to teach principles of music, not just notes. You must learn how to truly understand a score. It is like reading Shakespeare.”
While her teaching hours are in high demand, Hu’s career as a concert performer has taken her around the world, from a Los Angeles County Museum recital, which was broadcast live, to tours throughout Russia.
“In Moscow, I played Tchaikovsky with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. You can imagine the pressure of playing Tchaikovsky with them!” Hu said. “But the principal cellist came up to me afterward and said, ‘We all know this piece very well, but you play it with a true soul.'”
Her private students in Malibu would prefer that Hu restrict her touring schedule, however. Julia Wisnicki is 12 years old and has been studying with Hu for two years and is enthusiastic about her teacher.
“She makes you practice all the tough stuff like chromatic scales and challenging songs, but we also work on chord theory and sight reading.”
Hu’s Malibu students have included the children of Dustin Hoffman, Chevy Chase and Jane Harmon. SMMUSD board member Kathy Wisnicki is Julia’s mother and delights in her daughter’s progress.
“After five years of piano lessons, Julia just grew by leaps and bounds in the first few months with Yongmei,” Kathy Wisnicki said.
Hu counts her friendship with famed conductor Zubin Mehta as the highlight of her career.
“Mehta was always my idol,” she explained, “so I was almost speechless when he invited me to play for him.”
In that meeting, Mehta was guest conducting in San Francisco and, after a dress rehearsal, the maestro requested Hu to play something for him.
“Zubin Mehta is the greatest conductor in the world and I don’t know how I got through it,” Hu said.
But she played through Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Brahms for him and he immediately told her she should be playing with as many good conductors as she could find.
“‘Tell them I sent you,'” Hu said he told her. “‘Here, I will give you a letter of reference.'”
And Mehta sat down, penning a glowing recommendation himself on a sheet of paper: “Miss Hu has excellent control, plays with great articulation and has wonderful musical insight. I wish her the best, as I know she will make a substantial career.”
Hu keeps the original note in a gilded frame in her home.
However, her performing career was interrupted three years ago, when a student closed a piano lid on her hand and she didn’t play for two years.
“When I couldn’t play, it was horrible,” Hu said. “I was feeling totally unbalanced, with vertigo.”
A brisk regimen of the Chinese exercise Qigong and faith renewed her abilities and she traveled this year to Shanghai, where she played at the Shanghai Oriental Concert Hall. Later this fall, Hu will be playing Steinway Hall in New York, followed by a trip to Beijing to play with the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra.
Locally, Hu is playing a recital at the Smothers Theatre at Pepperdine University on Sunday.
“I am playing Schubert’s last Sonata and Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition,'” she said. These are two notoriously difficult pieces to play and contrast broadly.
“It is said that you cannot play the Schubert until you are at least 50 years old, as you don’t have proper life experience before that,” Hu said.
She laughingly demurred when asked her age, but she looks about 18 years old.
“I have my work cut out for me,” she said.
Hu’s performance is at 4 p.m. at the Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University. Tickets can be obtained by calling 310.506.4522.