On Saturday, October 11th at 12pm, Velvet Einstein welcomes premier pipa virtuoso, leading ambassador of Chinese music, and Grammy Award-nominated musician, Wu Man, to the KALX studios for a live in-studio interview and short performance.
Wu Man is joining Kronos Quartet later the same evening to perform the program, Beyond The Golden Gate, at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley as part of this year’s Cal Performances concert series.
Wu Man belongs to a rare group of musicians who have redefined the role of their instruments, in her case, the pipa, a pear-shaped, four-stringed Chinese lute with a rich history spanning centuries. Not only is she recognized as the foremost pipa player in the United States, but she is also celebrated as an accomplished composer, educator, and one of the most prominent instrumentalists of traditional Chinese music.
She 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 her to reach wider audiences as she works to cross cultural and musical borders.
Photo: Sebastian Schutyser
