An Interview with Nancy Wu

I was so lucky to cross paths with Nancy Wu, Associate Concertmaster of the New York Metropolitan Orchestra, during my time at Round Top. In addition to being a top-notch musician and teacher, Nancy Wu is also one of the sweetest people I've ever met. It was so great to get a chance to sit down with her and talk about her life in the Met, her time as a student and on the audition track, and a bit about her life outside of the orchestra as well!

Darren: Could you tell me a bit about your history, like where you went to school and other auditions and jobs you've taken?

Nancy: I grew up in Los Angeles, where I had great orchestra and chamber music experiences in the precursor to the Colburn Prep Program. I did my undergraduate at Stanford University, partially because I wasn't sure that I was going to be going into music, and as part of Stanford they had a great overseas program so I did a junior semester abroad in Vienna. That was so captivating to me that I decided to try to go back. I applied for a Fulbright after graduating and I was able to go back. I thought I was only going to stay for one year, but I ended up staying for five years at the Hochschule für Musik. Their system is very different from the United States. When I was there, people would start at the Hochschule when they were 15 or 16 and then study for 6 to 8 years. I ended up staying 5 years, which was how long my teacher decided was good for me. I finished, and decided to come back to the States and do some auditions.

My first audition when I came back to the States was for the New Jersey Symphony, which I won. Then I auditioned for the New York Philharmonic a month or two after that, where I reached the final round. I auditioned for the New Jersey Symphony again, and became the principal second violinist there, and then took an audition for the Houston Symphony for their Assistant Concertmaster, for which I reached finals again. Then I took the Met audition for their Associate Concertmaster and that's where I've been ever since!

D: How did you practice for these auditions? Any tips or tricks that you'd be willing to share?

N: I was lucky because the NJ Symphony was almost the perfect job for practicing for auditions. It was a 27 or 28 week season, so I would play for a week or two and then have a week or two off. It was great because I had a lot of time and was able to practice consistently throughout the year. I was also motivated because it didn't pay a lot, and I was trying to live in New York City at the time. But yet, it was a good orchestra, so I feel very lucky that I played there. It was helpful for me that I was playing principal second. As a string player, one thing that can happen is that when you play in a section you learn to follow. If you do that for a long time, it's kind of hard to get out of that mindset and get to where you need to be for an audition.

Practice-wise, I would practice everyday, but try to use my time well. One of my best friends, who got into the Met a few years before me, helped me a lot and I credit her with a lot of my audition practice concepts. One concept that I used a lot was practicing very slowly most of time to really listen for details.

D: So now you have this great job, what's life like on the other side? What are some challenges you face day-to-day that people might not think about?

N: I've been in the orchestra for 27 and a 1/2 years.. I'm actually one of the oldsters! I think I am the third longest serving member in my section. So, part of the challenge is to keep your playing up because you constantly have these great new, young players coming in who are just fantastic and are on the top of their game. It's essentially a bit of a challenge just to keep your playing up, for me anyhow. It helps if you can play chamber music outside of the orchestra. I did more when my children were younger, I do actually less now because they're older and I like to be at home with them.

It's also a challenge to remain fresh and not get jaded. I think one reason why musicians rank fairly low on the job satisfaction scale is that you don't have a lot of control over a lot of factors: what you're playing, who's conducting.. Part of the challenge is to somehow maintain your own musical opinion and make it work with the conductors interpretation. It can be frustrating at times, but you have keep remembering why you're there in the first place, because you love the music and you have to make it as relevant for the audience despite anything else. It takes effort, and sometimes it can feel like you're submerged sometimes. Intrapersonal relationships within the orchestra can also be challenging, and while I think that's true for every orchestra and every job, the more energy you can put into being positive helps.

D: What are the differences between playing in a symphony orchestra and playing in the Met? Are there any?

N: The Met plays about 3 symphonic concerts a year. In opera, there are more places where you are purely accompaniment, like when we're playing an aria. You're a little less in the spotlight. For me, I feel more in the spotlight when we're playing symphonic repertoire. Onstage, we also have to be more aware of how we look. Not to say we don't think about that in the pit, because a lot of our audience can actually see us, but there's definitely more attention put towards that onstage.

On the other hand, operas are so much longer so you have to learn how to pace yourself physically. I find the symphonic repertoire to be more tiring mentally because again, you're onstage, and the music is often more densely packed and intense.

D: What are your hobbies outside of music?

N: Well, most of my time right now is devoted to parenting. I have two kids, one 19 year old and one 14 and 1/2. Our Met season is very concentrated, between Labor Day and the end of May. Sort of like an academic schedule. It's very, very busy during that time. I basically work my Met job and parent. Besides that, my family likes to ski. We also go hiking in the summer when we're at Verbier. During the season, I try to do something physical to stay in shape, which recently has been yoga at least once a week. I have found that to be really helpful for my upper body, maintaining myself throughout the season, and preventing injuries. I also love to cook. My whole family, we're all foodies.

Nancy Wu with her husband Leigh Mesh and their children Guinevere and Wolfie at the FXB Cabane in Switzerland.

D: What are your go-to dishes?

N: That's hard to say. We have very eclectic tastes. I have a great sesame noodle recipe, and I also dabble with middle eastern recipes. My husband actually does more Chinese cooking than I do. He learned how to stir-fry from my mom, and it really tastes like my mom's cooking! I make great dumplings though. No one else knows how to do those folds, those little pleats.. I still am trying to teach that to my kids!

It's really surprising, I think musicians in general are into food. Whenever our orchestra has potlucks, we have the best food. So many of our musicians are great cooks. There's definitely something about music and food...

D: What did you learn in school that you found to be most helpful in winning a job?

N: My teacher in Vienna, who is just retiring now as concertmaster with the Vienna Philharmonic, he told me one thing that always stuck with me - he said in an audition, you want to really stand out among the crowd. I always kept that in my mind, and for me personally I found the way for me to stand out was to concentrate on the music and how I could communicate it best.

D: On the flip side, were there things that you learned after you graduated that you wish you learned sooner?

N: I think really learning how to practice for auditions. Since auditions are really so much about being able to absolutely lay it down for those 8 or so minutes, you have to be absolutely super solid. Like I mentioned before, my friend who helped me for my Met audition, she got me really into practicing slow with a metronome and I remember I got to the point where I felt really confident about everything before the Met audition. The slow work, and really analyzing what worked and what didn't work was key. That was something that I learned a little later on that helped a ton.

D: Do you have any words of advice or encouragement for the next generation of musicians?

N: I would say two things - one, respect the music and what's written, as much as you can. You can always go back to that. Even if you have problems with a conductor or other musicians, you can go back to the music, it's always there. Just always remember the love of music and what brought you into it in the first place. The other thing would be to be as positive and thoughtful and considerate a colleague as possible. It goes a long way, and I think it really ties into musical integrity as well. The more you can do your job, be involved and produce as well as being positive and thoughtful and all those other things that's for me what makes a colleague that I really value over the long haul.

Good luck, and follow your hearts! Music needs to be something felt. If your audience can feel what you're doing, that's what keeps them coming back. I think with both young and old audiences, there are things that they can feel in music whether they are familiar with it or not. Those incredible moments are there for everybody, and it's our job to convey those moments and keeping spreading our art.