Masterworks Concert Featuring Wu Man

Western Piedmont Symphony
Matthew Troy, Music Director
Masterworks: Other Worlds
Saturday, October 21, 2023
7:30 p.m.
P.E. Monroe Auditorium on the campus of Lenoir-Rhyne University

Featured Artist: Wu Man, pipa

Experience music like no other with the Silk Road Ensemble’s Wu Man, the world’s foremost pipa artist, performing the cinematic Concerto No. 2 for Pipa and Orchestra by Zhao Jiping. Also featured on the opening Masterworks program: Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Suite and the triumphant Pines of Rome by Respighi.

About the Artist:
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 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. Her 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, and in 2021 when she received an honorary Doctorate of Music from the New England Conservatory of Music and an Honorary University Fellowship from Hong Kong Baptist University. (Read more)