Carol Ou

Chamber Music

A versatile artist, cellist Carol Ou is known for her “fiery”, “marvelous” and “meltingly melodic outpourings” (The Boston Globe) and her “wonderfully pure cello tone and incisive technique.” (The Strad Magazine) Numerous solo and chamber music engagements have brought her to prestigious venues such as New York's Merkin Concert Hall, Boston’s Jordan Hall, the Gardner Museum, the National Concert Hall in Taipei, Taiwan’s Presidential Palace, and the National Ukrainian Concert Hall in Kiev. She has collaborated with artists such as Hillary Hahn, Timothy Eddy, Midori, András Schiff, and Malcolm Bilson at the Marlboro Music Festival, Summerfest La Jolla, Australian Festival of Chamber Music, and other noted music festivals.

At ease with the diverse classical musical styles of the last four centuries, Ou regularly programs traditional European masterworks with more eclectic works in concert. She has recorded three of the most beloved cello concerti by Haydn, Tchaikovsky and Elgar, and has premiered several new compositions written for her. She gave the first performance of Hsiao Tyzen's Cello Concerto in Taipei, and well as premiering several other solo cello works by him. American composers such as Richard Toensing, and the late Daniel Pinkham, have also dedicated works to her. Other unusual works that she has performed include Tan Dun's Ghost Opera for string quartet and pipa, and Peter Sculthorpe's string quartet with didjeridu.

Performance highlights from 2008 and 2009 include a 2008 Argentina concerto debut with the Orchestra of the Teatro Argentino, a solo recital tour of Taiwan, and a 2009 performance in Boston of Yehuid Wyner's Prologue and Narrative for Cello and Orchestra, celebrating the composer's 80th birthday.

Ou has taught cello students at Yale, MIT, and Harvard University, and was previously director of strings, chamber music, and orchestral studies at Gordon College. Since 2007, Ou has been the chamber music director of the Heifetz International Summer Music Institute in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire.

Ou's solo recordings are all issued by the Chi-Mei Foundation in Taiwan. Her chamber music recordings of 20th century compositions can be found on the Naxos and CRI labels. Her recording of Walter Piston's Chamber Music, issued by Naxos, won Chamber Music America's Best Chamber Music CD award in 2001. 

Ou currently lives in Boston with her husband, violinist James Buswell. In addition to her regular teaching duties, she has traveled extensively, and given cello and chamber music masterclasses in Germany, Spain, Argentina, Ukraine, Australia, Taiwan, Canada, and throughout the U.S.

B.A., magna cum laude, Yale University. M.M., M.M.A., D.M.A., Yale School of Music. Studies with Ronald Leonard, Janos Starker, Aldo Parisot. Recordings on Chi-Mei (Taiwan), Naxos, and CRI.

2010-03-19