Wu Man: Pipa Virtuoso

Wu Man is an internationally renowned pipa virtuoso and has been called "the artist most responsible for bringing the pipa to the Western World" by The Los Angeles Times. She is an inheritress of the Pudong School of pipa playing, one of the most prestigious classical styles of pipa playing in Imperial China, and is a graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She was the first recipient of a master's degree in the pipa, and is not only an outstanding exponent of the traditional repertoire, but is recognized as a leading interpreter of contemporary pipa music.

The pipa is a lute-like instrument with a history of more than two thousand years. During the Qin and Han Dynasties (221 B.C. - 220 A.D.), instruments with long, straight-necks and round resonators with snake skin or wooden sound boards were played with a forward and backward plucking motion that sounded like "pi" and "pa" to fanciful ears. Hence, all plucked instruments in ancient times were called "pipa". During the Tang dynasty, by way of India, the introduction of a crooked neck lute with a pear-shaped bellu contributed to the pipa's evolution. Today's instrument consists of twenty-six frets and six ledges arranged as stops and its four strings are tuned respectively to A,D,E,A. The pipa's many left and right hand fingering techniques, rich tonal qualities and resonant timber give its music expressiveness and beauty that are lasting and endearing.

  - Noted by Wu Man

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