Alex Wen, conductor Alex Kwok Wai Yu, clarinet soloist
Carl Maria von Weber Clarinet Concerto No. 2 in E flat Major, Op. 74
Hector Berlioz Symphony Fantastique, Op. 14
Alex Wen
Alex Wen, newly appointed as Interim Artistic Director of the Jackson Heights Orchestra, most recently served as assistant conductor of the Massapequa Philharmonic and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony under the mentorship of Maestro David Bernard, and concluded five seasons as Principal Conductor of the Golden Rose Opera. He has worked with contemporary music groups such as PinkNoise Ensemble and the NYsoundCircuit as their appointed music director. An avid opera conductor, Alex has led performances of La Bohème, Carmen, Suor Angelica, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Madama Butterfly with the Golden Rose Opera, and led the New York premieres of Huang Ruo’s Bound with Fresh Squeezed Opera in 2019 and Eric Moe’s Artwork of the Future this spring of 2023.
Alex has conducted performances with Rhymes With Opera, the Queens College Orchestra, Queens College Opera, Litha Symphony Orchestra, and has cover conducted for the Queer Urban Orchestra and Yonkers Philharmonic. Recent engagements also include performances with the Sound Symphony Orchestra and guest clinician and conductor for the All-County Festival Orchestra of the National Music Educators Association (NMEA), with regular guest conducting appearances with the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra.
A graduate of the Masters program in Orchestral Conducting at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Alex studied with Maurice Peress and managed the Queens College Conductors Workshop collaborating with composers David Amram, Bruce Saylor, and George Tsontakis. Wen was selected as a participant in the 2019 Conductors Workshop of the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music where he worked with Cristian Măcelaru and Octavio Más-Arocas. Alex holds a Bachelor of Music in viola performance from Azusa Pacific University (APU) where he served as an assistant conductor to the APU Chamber Singers, responsible for preparing the orchestra for the National Collegiate Choral Organization’s national conference.
Alex Kwok Wai Yu
Alex Yu is a versatile musician who embraces a career as a clarinetist, recorder player and conductor. He has given solo performances in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, and the Grand Theatre in Hong Kong Cultural Centre, among others. Currently based in New York City, Yu has been featured in the 92nd Street Y Concert Series, Forte New York Chamber Music Series, Lex54 Concerts Series, Kayenta Center for the Arts, Long Island Composers’ Alliance Concerts and the NYC Electroacoustic Music Festival. Yu has served as principal clarinet in the Long Island Festival Orchestra and Park Avenue Chamber Symphony.
Yu holds degrees in clarinet performance from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, CUNY. His major teachers include Charles Neidich, Andrew Simon and Deborah Chodacki. Yu was awarded twice the Bernard van Zuiden Music Scholarship from the Hong Kong Philharmonic Society. He was the first-prize winner of the American Protégé International Romantic Music Competition, and was awarded second prize in the Vienna New Year’s Concert International Music Competition. He has participated in major music festivals such as the Sarasota Music Festival and Orford Music Academy in Quebec, Canada. Yu has been an adjunct faculty in clarinet at Queens College, CUNY and a faculty member at the Long Island Conservatory of Music. He has recently given clarinet masterclasses at the Southern Utah University and Utah Tech University.
