Formosa Duo

Since earning their respective doctorate of musical arts degrees from the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), pianist Chi-Chen Wu and cellist Sam Ou have been collaborating as the Formosa Duo for over two decades. While respectively maintaining music faculty positions at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana and Kutztown University Ms. Wu and Mr. Ou have individually appeared as recitalists, chamber musicians, and concerto soloists in the United States, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Luxembourg, Poland, and Bermuda. Music festivals in which they have collectively participated include Aspen, Tanglewood, Sarasota, Musicorda, Santa Fe, La Jolla, and Monadnock.

As a duo, Ms. Wu and Mr. Ou studied with Irma Vallecillo and Laurence Lesser at NEC. The diverse repertoire that they have performed encompasses a wide stylistic span, from the Classical and Romantic periods, through the 20th century and into the present. This includes works by Barber, Beethoven, Boccherini, Bolcom, Brahms, Chopin, Debussy, de Falla, Dohnanyi, Fauré, Grieg, Tyzen Hsiao, John Kramer, Martinu, Mendelssohn, Jessie Montgomery, Muczynski, Arvo Pärt, Piazzolla, Poulenc, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Saint-Saëns, Schubert, Schumann, Cyril Scott, Shostakovich, Reza Vali, and Kurt Weill. Particularly, contemporary music is a passion for both musicians. Ms. Wu has premiered the piano version of John Harbison’s The Great Gatsby, The Poet and The War by Norber Palej (world premiere), and Ralf Gawlick’s Best Regards, Bruno (world premiere). Notable contemporary music performances include Concertino for Piano, Winds and Timpani by George Perle and Malcolm Williamson’s Piano Concerto No. 2. Mr. Ou has performed Yehudi Wyner’s Tanz and Maissele with violinist Lucy Chapman and the Pulitzer prize-winning composer at the piano in New York City. He has also performed works by Ralph Shapey, Scott Wheeler, Lee Hyla, and Larry Bell in Boston’s Jordan Hall. He soloed with the Boston Civic Symphony in the world premiere performance of Mr. Bell’s Cello Concerto. As the Formosa Duo, Ms. Wu and Mr. Ou performed the world premiere of John Kramer’s Sonata for Piano and Cello. They also performed Jessie Montgomery’s Peace transcribed for cello and piano. During the pandemic, the Duo maintained fervent support of contemporary music and collaborated with student composers from the University of Florida, culminating in a final recording project of their compositions, all recorded and edited remotely.