James Wu Biography

Nov. 15, 2021

James Wu recently completed his Honours Bachelor of Music degree at Wilfrid Laurier University, under the direction of Dr. Leslie De'Ath, and has been playing the piano since 2003. Starting piano in China, James studied at the Central Conservatory of China for eight years. In 2014, he moved to Barrie, Ontario, Canada, where he studied piano with Mrs. Nena LaMarre, violin with Dr. Janice LaMarre, conducting with Mr. Oliver Balaburski. James is currently studying orchestral conducting with Dr. Jessica Kun, and worked as the assistant conductor of the Laurier Wind Ensemble, and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Youth Orchestra. In 2020, James attended the New England Conservatory Conducting Symposium virtually, where he had lessons and masterclasses with a variety of conductors and professors, including Dr. Cynthia Johnston Turner. James has since been working as the video director and editor with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, producing high quality video concerts for the 2019-2020 and the 2020-2021 seasons online. He enjoys the process of working with all kinds of professional musicians and conductors, as well as the vast variety of genres of music, with hopes to faithfully represent their artistic vision on the big screen. James has also worked as tech support for multiple community ensembles during the pandemic and strives to use his computer knowledge to make musicians lives easier in this new digital era. Besides music, James enjoys spending time with his wife, Rachel, whom he just married in May 2021.