MECA is pleased to be hosting an evening with Wu Man and the Shanghai Quartet on Wednesday, March 30th at 6:15 pm in Osher Hall. There will be a viewing of Wu Man‘s short film and a personal conversation with her afterwards. 

Born in Hangzhou, Zhejiang in 1963, Wu Man began taking pipa lessons at age 9. At 13, she became the youngest student at the school, and her final audition was covered in national newspapers. Wu Man first performed in the United States as a member of the China Youth Arts Troupe in 1985. She moved to the U.S. five years later to pursue a career in pipa performance that would allow her repertoire to extend beyond traditional Chinese music.

Today she is recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and leading ambassador of Chinese music, Grammy Award-nominated musician Wu Man is a very special artist, educator, cultural ambassador. From Carnegie to London’s Wigmore and Albert Halls to festivals around the world — Wu Man has carved out a career as a leading contributor to thrilling collaborations, as featured guest in some of the world’s most prominent orchestras, a solo recitalist, educator and composer. Performing on an instrument with a 2000+ year history, she is a fierce advocate for its use in both traditional and contemporary music and an ambassador of Chinese music. Projects she has instigated have resulted in the pipa finding a place in new solo and quartet works, concertos, opera, chamber, electronic, and jazz music as well as in theater, film, dance and the visual arts. Her adventurous spirit and virtuosity have led to collaborations with everyone from Tan Dun, Chen Shi-Zheng and Zakir Hussain to Philip Glass, Terry Riley and Kronos to Esa-Pekka Salonen and many others. She is a founding and principal member of Yo Yo Ma’s Silk Road Ensemble. She is the first artist from China to perform at the White House. She will be here March 30-31 for a concert with the Shanghai Quartet in a program that features traditional music for pipa, a major Western classical work and a new work commissioned by the film composer Zhao Jiping (Farewell My Concubine, Raise the Red Lantern).