Just found an article in the New York Times about Wu Man, a Chinese player of the pipa who came to the USA in 1990. Wu Man has recently released a new CD Immeasurable Light.
Wu Man is the most important player of the Chinese Pipa in western countries. She has played all kind of Chinese but also western music on the pipa. She has cooperated with the Kronos Quartet. She has also travelled back to China to look for the original chines music and organized a festival of chinese music in the Carnegie Hall. She is also a player of the ORION ensemble of Philip Glass, an ensemble that includes different instruments from different countries including the pipa from China and the sitar from India.
In the following two videos you can see Wu Man playing the pipa and demonstrating the pipa and some of its playing techniques.
Wu Man
A clip from Boston Guitarfest 2008. Wu Man performs “San Liu (Three Six)” on the Chinese Pipa
Silk Road Project: Wu Man
An interview with Silk Road Ensemble member Wu Man, pipa player and composer from China.
More information at http://www.silkroadproject.org
Anorther video from the Silkwood Project:
Silk Road Project: White Snow in the Sunny Spring
At a Silk Road Ensemble concert, pipa virtuosa Wu Man plays “White Snow in the Sunny Spring.” This is one of several traditional Chinese pieces for solo pipa, a short-necked lute that has been one of the most popular instruments in China since the Tang Dynasty.
A last video from a live production with an interview of WNYC – a very meditative piece for pipa and another chinese instrument – the zither qin.
Wu Man on the Chinese Lute
Listen to the whole interview:
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/…
Pipa virtuoso Wu Man joins us along with qin player Zhao Jiazhen to share the traditional music of her native China.
More information
2012 Concert at NPR: http://www.npr.org/event/music/144696932/the-silk-road-ensemble-globalfest-2012
Cross-cultural dialogue never sounded as good as this 14-member group, founded by superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma. Blending music from points near and far, this is a serious all-star ensemble, which — even without its founder’s presence — brings fabulous energy to all of its outings.
Four of The Silk Road Ensemble’s core Western classical-oriented members also play as Brooklyn Rider — a longtime NPR Music staff favorite — while other master musicians in this adventurous band include the Galician gaita (bagpipe) dazzler Cristina Pato and pipa virtuoso (and Tiny Desk Concert veteran) Wu Man. When they all played out together in full force, their pure joy and unyielding virtuosity provided one of the evening’s highest high points.
Homepage Wu Man: http://www.wumanpipa.org/
Wikipedia about Wu Man: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_Man
Interview with Wu Man (NPR): http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/july-dec09/wuman_11-19.html
Interview: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/soundcheck/2009/oct/22/wu-man/
Interview and videos: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2009/11/thursday-on-the-newshour-wu-man.html
New York Times article One-Woman Pipa Jam Session: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/28/arts/music/28wu.html?_r=1&ref=music
Find more videos with Wu Man playing the Pipa: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wu+man+pipa&aq=f
youtube channel of Silkroad Project: http://www.youtube.com/user/silkroadproject
Guardian about the pipa: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/apr/20/hey-whats-that-sound-pipa
Drawing from a Silk Road Project concert: http://learndaily.blogspot.com/2006_02_01_archive.html