Wu Man

Wu Man (zh-cp|c=|p=Wú Mán; born 1963 in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China) is a Chinese pipa and ruan player and composer. She is an exponent of the Pudong School of pipa playing.

She studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where her instructors included Lin Shicheng, Kuang Yuzhong, Chen Zemin, and Liu Dehai. She became the first recipient of a master's degree in pipa and won the first prize in the 1989 National Music Performance Competition.

Although educated in China, Wu came to the United States in 1990 at the age of 25. She lived in Boston for many years and now lives in San Diego, California with her husband and son.

Wu performs with Chinese traditional music groups but is also known for her interpretation of contemporary compositions, as well as her work in jazz and cross-cultural music. Many composers (including Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Gabriela Lena Frank, Bun-Ching Lam, Evan Ziporyn, and others) have composed new works for her.

Wu has performed and recorded with the Kronos Quartet, Henry Threadgill, Liu Sola, Martin Simpson, and Yo-Yo Ma's The Silk Road Ensemble. In 1999, she became the first Chinese musician to play at the White House. [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/02/arts/music/02king.html] She played there, together with Yo-Yo Ma, in honor of Zhu Rongji, the premier of China. Also in 1999, Wu was chosen by Ma to receive the Glenn Gould Prize. The award consisted of a bronze statue of famous Canadian pianist Gould himself.

Discography

*1993 - "Chinese Music for the Pipa" (Nimbus)
*1995 - Zhou Long: "Nature and Spirit" (Composers Recordings, Inc.)
*1996 - "Chinese Traditional & Contemporary Music" (Nimbus)
*2003 - "Pipa from a Distance" (Naxos)
*2003 - "Posture of Reality" (Asian Improv)
*2003 - Bright Sheng: "Silent Temple" (Bis)
*2004 - Lou Harrison: "For Strings" (Mode)
*2005 - "Wu Man and Friends" (Traditional Crossroads)
*2008 - Tan Dun: "Pipa Concerto" (Onyx Classics UK)

With Philip Glass

*2005 - "Orion" (Orange Mountain)

With Kronos Quartet

*1997 - "Early Music" (Nonesuch)
*1997 - "Ghost Opera" (Nonesuch)
*2008 - Terry Riley: "The Cusp of Magic" (Nonesuch)

With Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle

*2005 - You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R. D. Burman's Bollywood (Nonesuch)

With Martin Simpson

*1997 - "Music for the Motherless Child" (Water Lily Acoustics)

With Liu Sola

*1994 - "Blues in the East" (Axiom)
*1997 - "China Collage" (Avant Japan)
*2001 - "Spring Snowfall" (Also Productions)

With The Silk Road Ensemble

*2002 - "Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet" (enhanced SACD) (Sony)
*2005 - "Silk Road Journeys: Beyond the Horizon" (Sony)
*2007 - "New Impossibilities" (Sony Classics)

With Henry Threadgill

*1994 - "Carry the Day"

Compilations

*1994 - "World Music Sampler, Volume 2 (Nimbus)
*1997 - "China: Spirit and Wisdom" (Ellipsis Arts China)
*1998 - "China: Sounds of Our Stories" (Ellipsis Arts China)
*1998 - "China - Time To Listen: The Best of China" (3-CD set) (Ellipsis)
*2008 - "Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago" (CSO Resound)

External links

* [http://www.wumanpipa.org/ Wu Man official site]
* [http://www.amrep.org/people/wuman.html Wu Man biography]

Interviews

* [http://newoldmusic.blogspot.com/2007/07/wu-man-interview.html Wu Man interview]