While you might not be familiar with the word pipa, you have no doubt heard music produced by this 2,000-year-old, stringed, Chinese instrument. It is, to me, the sound of China.

Pipa virtuoso Wu Man has been travelling around Alaska sharing her love of the instrument not only for how it embodies the history and culture of China, her country of origin, but how it can be used in contemporary music forms. Wu Man is recognized as an outstanding exponent of the traditional pipa repertoire as well as a leading interpreter of contemporary pipa music by today’s most prominent composers, and collaborator with nationally reknowned artists such as Yo Yo Ma and the Kronos Quartet.

Wu Man is currently wrapping up her Alaska AIR (Artist in Residency) program after having performed a collaborative work with Alaska musicians titled “The Oort Coud” in Juneau, Sitka and Anchorage. (See previous posts about the Alaska AIR program here and here.) (more…)