Local Pianist to Play at Prestigious German University

Last year, she had been to Germany for various piano and percussion performances with a friend and fellow musician. Next month, Yu-Ching Sherry Wei, 28, will return to Germany to play piano in classes and with chamber music repertoires at the Academy of Music in Detmold.

The school chose Wei, a Smithtown resident, as a replacement.

"I will say that I am lucky because one of the pianists was pregnant and cannot go this semester, so they have one piano accompaniment spot open," Wei said.

Given her resume, she appears to have earned the opportunity, which follows many performances and awards. Born in Taiwan, Wei learned piano at an early age, followed by percussion in her mid-teens. In the late 1990s, she received personal instruction from famous percussionists such as Peter Prommel. During college in her native country, she was part of several symphony orchestra concerts and in 2003 won the top honor as a percussionist at the National Chiayi University Concerto competition in Taiwan.

More recently, at the Academy of Music in Detmold, Germany, she performed at concerts and was a guest student.

"I already have enough degrees, so I don't mind being a guest student. The purpose is I want to learn more," Wei said. "[Also], I admire Professor Peter Prommel."

She first met Prommel, a well-known percussionist and educator, in Taiwan when she was a senior in high school. At the time, Wei was at a crossroads with her instruments of choice, though she preferred piano.

"During that time, my percussion life was not smooth because of some really bad reasons," she said. "I did not like to practice percussion even though my major was percussion. I practiced piano as hard as I could and tried to switch my major to piano. In this bad timing, when I met Professor Prommel, he was the first one who told me that I have talent and is the first one who showed me there is so much fun in percussion."

Wei's nearby peers also see her talent. One such acquaintance is Matt Vandegriff, a professor of Music Theory Studies at C.W. Post.

“I have a great appreciation and enjoyment of the performance style of Yu-Ching Sherry Wei," he said. "Her playing is impassioned and proficient, leaving the audience with a wonderful personal experience."

Now living in Smithtown where she has some family, Wei is studying for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at Stony Brook University. Her studies are focused on percussion performance, playing compositions of contemporary composers, either solo or with a group such as the Stony Brook Contemporary Chamber Players. And although she will be playing piano in Germany, it is percussion that Wei likes best.

"Playing percussion fits my personality well." she said. "For me, percussion music is like an art. Not only is the sound interesting, also what you see is interesting too. I want to explore something that I don’t know. That is the originality of the percussion world."