Wu Man
Recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and leading ambassador of Chinese music, Wu Man has carved out a career as a soloist, educator and composer giving her lute-like instrument—which has a history of over 2,000 years in China—a new role in both traditional and contemporary music. Through numerous concert tours, Wu Man has premiered hundreds of new works for the pipa, while spearheading multimedia projects to both preserve and create awareness of China’s ancient musical traditions. Her adventurous spirit and virtuosity have led to collaborations across artistic disciplines allowing Wu Man to reach wider audiences as she works to break through cultural and musical borders. Wu Man’s efforts were recognized when she was named Musical America’s 2013 Instrumentalist of the Year, marking the first time this prestigious award has been bestowed on a player of a non-Western instrument.
As a principal musician in Yo-Yo Ma’s Silk Road Project, Wu Man has performed throughout the U.S., Europe and Asia with the Silk Road Ensemble and recently shared a 2017 Grammy Award for Best World Music Album for Sing Me Home, the companion CD to the Silk Road Ensemble’s Grammy-nominated documentary Music of Strangers. Adamant that the pipa does not become marginalized as only appropriate for Chinese music, Wu Man strives to develop a place for the pipa in all art forms. Projects she has initiated 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 productions, film, dance and collaborations with visual artists including calligraphers and painters. Wu Man boasts a discography of over 40 albums including Traditions and Transformations: Sounds of Silk Road Chicago,which features her Grammy Award–nominated performance of Lou Harrison’s Pipa Concerto with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
Residency dates: March 27-31; available for school engagements March 27 & 28 (Click here to request this artist for your school!)
Friday, March 31
Wu Man with the IU Jacobs School of Music Vera Quartet and New Music Ensemble
Buskirk-Chumley Theater
7:30 pm (Doors at 7:00)
Free and open to the public – click for details
Wu Man’s residency is a partnership of the IU Arts & Humanities Council, the Lotus Education & Arts Foundation, and the IU Jacobs School of Music, presented in conjunction with China Remixed: Arts and Humanities in Contemporary Chinese Culture, the IU Arts and Humanities Council Global Arts & Humanities Festival 2017.
