“Pianism
in a whole different league, namely: art”. These words from
Tel Aviv’s Ha’aretz aptly describe Henry Wong Doe’s
sincerity and passion for music. Having won “Audience
Favorite” prizes at both the Rubinstein and Busoni International
Piano Competitions, Henry continues to enthrall audiences worldwide with his uniquely captivating style.
Henry Wong Doe’s performances have taken him to major venues including Carnegie Hall in New York, Heinz Hall in 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 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. 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. Henry’s prize winning performances at the 2000 Sydney International Piano Competition were recorded and released on the Australian ABC Classics label.
A native of New Zealand, Henry Wong Doe’s debut with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in July 2003 was received with great acclaim, and he has returned several times to perform on their main concert series. Working with acclaimed conductors as Michael Christie, Piero Bellugi, and Marko Letonja, he has performed concerti by Rachmaninoff, Prokofieff, Mozart, and Grieg. In the United States, Henry made his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra during the 2010/11 season, performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 2 under the baton of Maestro Thomas Hong.
A highlight of the 2008/09 season was his debut appearance at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. Entitled "Musician and Machine", Henry performed both solo and interactive works for piano by Ravel, Messiaen, Ligeti, Farr, Risset, including a world premiere by New York based American composer Brendan Adamson. Following this debut recital, Henry was awarded a grant from the Arts Council of New Zealand (Creative NZ) to record the complete piano works of internationally renowned New Zealand composer Gareth Farr. This recording Horizon (MMT 2070) was released in August 2012 on HRL Morrison Trust Records, and his second recital at Carnegie Weill Hall earlier that year featured works from this disc. Harris Goldsmith of New York Concert Review wrote: "This was a brilliant performance...with great vitality, thrust and characterization...especially the way he realized the music's peppery virtuosity via his gestural way of playing the piano." Immediately following its release, Horizon was featured on New York's WNYC radio New Sounds program.
An avid chamber musician, Henry Wong Doe frequently collaborates with violinist Eugenia Choi, oboist Stephanie Caulder and bassoonist Jason Worzbyt. An upcoming release on Klavier Records Five in the Sun (K11193) features woodwind chamber works by Previn, Rochberg, Galbraith, Hope, and McAlister.
Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Henry Wong Doe began his studies at the age of five, and was the recipient of numerous national awards before embarking on further study in the United States. Following a Masters degree from Indiana University Bloomington, Henry graduated in May 2006 with a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The Juilliard School in New York. His 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. His teachers have included Evelyne Brancart, Leonard Hokanson, Joseph Kalichstein and Richard Goode, and he has participated in masterclasses given by Menahem Pressler, Paul Badura-Skoda and Leon Fleisher. In addition to his performing activites, Henry is currently Assistant Professor of Piano at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
