Photo of Wu Man by Chad Batka
Wu Man Invites Audiences to “Return to the East”
Over the past 20 years of my musical life, I have been trying to seek out effective ways to introduce pipa music and Chinese musical culture to audiences in the West. I have been involved in creating many cross-cultural projects by blending the pipa with variety of western and non-western instruments and art forms. The idea has been to introduce the pipa to audiences by presenting the instrument and the sounds it makes in a context with which they are familiar.
Recently projects have taken me in a different direction, a direction that has pointed me back towards my homeland. Although Asian culture has always been at the root of my musical spirit, after living in the West for 20 years, when I now look back to China I feel that there are so many fascinating aspects of the musical culture that I need to learn about and also so many new possibilities for today’s music world. I have had the opportunity to travel back to China and to discover my musical heartland. It continues to reveal musical layers to me that are steeped in history, that are distinct and unique, but also endangered. I feel passionate about celebrating these musical jewels with new audiences. I invite audiences to Return to the East with me.
Projects that I have instigated under the umbrella of Wu Man’s Return to the East include:
Wu Man & Friends
I was asked to curate, perform and produce new recordings as part of the acclaimed 10-volume "Music of Central Asia" CD-DVD series co-produced by the Aga Khan Music Initiative and Smithsonian Folkways Recordings. I have recorded a CD and DVD with Tajik and Uyghur musicians that will be released by Smithsonian Folkways in early 2012, with tours of Central Asia and the U.S. to follow.
http://www.akdn.org/aktc_music_centralasia.asp
Rehearsing for the “Music of Central Asia” project in Beijing
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In March 2012, I will work with aboriginal musicians from Taiwan “Music from Taiwan Aboriginal Mountain” at the Taiwan International Arts Festival in Taipei National Concert Hall
Felid trip with aboriginal group in Bunon Village, Taiwan, 2010
A Chinese Home with the Kronos Quartet
In November 2009, the Kronos Quartet and I performed the world premiere of our multimedia work called “A Chinese Home” at Zankel Hall. We have since performed this work at the Sydney Arts Festival in Australia, the Luminato Festival in Canada and also around the country in Stanford, CA presented by Stanford Lively Arts; at the Krannert Center in Urbana, IL; at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Centre in College Park, MD; and at the Yerba Buena Arts Center in San Francisco.
The scope of this work and the Chinese history that it encapsulates in both our musical performances and the accompanying film footage selected by stage director Chen Shi-Zheng has taken people by surprise. They have come to see a concert and instead they get a very theatrical, visual and stimulating experience that includes all types of music, song and some surprises. This project stemmed from a visit that I made to Yin Yu Tang at the Peabody Essex Museum and grew into a much richer and more diverse piece than I have ever been involved in. It is our hope that we can continue to perform this work around the world, providing another view of Chinese culture and exploding expectations of what a string quartet and pipa can do together!
We were interviewed on June 15 about this project on CBC’s Q with Jian Ghomeshi. This begins around the 25 minute mark and concludes with a live performance of the 1940s Shanghai song, “Will You Ever Come Back?” that I sing in A Chinese Home: http://www.cbc.ca/q/episodes/
Photos of A Chinese Home by Jay Blakesberg
Zhang Family Band & Shadow Puppets
In 2009 I had the honor of being asked to curate concerts as part of Carnegie Hall’s “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices” festival celebrating Chinese culture. One of the groups that I found in China that I felt represented the essence of Chinese culture and music and brought to New York was the Zhang Family Band. In addition to making some of the loudest music I think Zankel Hall has ever heard, the Zhang Family also use the art of shadow puppetry to tell their stories.
The Zhang Family Band is featured in this story that ran on BBC America during the Carnegie Hall festival:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUlgmGGHFbc
Performances 2011-12
Ancient Dances
I will be re-staging Ancient Dances at the University of Massachusetts’s Bowker Auditorium on Wednesday October 5 at 7:30 pm; in Los Angeles as part of the UCLA Live series at Royce Hall on Saturday, November 19 at 8:00 pm; and at Dartmouth College in Hanover at the Hopkins Center on Friday, January 27.
Ancient Dances is a multimedia work that I commissioned from composer Chen Yi and myself, first performed in 2005. This is a three movement work for pipa and percussion and brings together pipa and percussion music, Tang Dynasty poetry and the ancient art of Chinese calligraphy, highlighting the beauty of structure and formality in all of these art-forms. The three movements, based on poems by Li Bai, are “Cheering”, “Longing” and “Wondering”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HHThpbb5UIw&feature=related
Lou Harrison’s Pipa Concerto
I will give two performances of Lou Harrison’s Pipa Concerto with String Orchestra with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra on Friday, October 14 at 8:00 pm and Saturday, October 15 at 8:00 pm in Winnepeg , Canada.
I gave the world premiere performance of this pipa concerto with the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra and conductor Dennis Russell Davies in 1997 at the Lincoln Center as part of a number of concerts scheduled to celebrate Lou’s 80th birthday. In 2009, my recording of this concerto with conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra was nominated for a Best Instrumental Soloist Performance Grammy Award.
http://www.wso.ca/this-season-tickets/2011-2012-season/masterworks-b/
Dennis Russel Davies, Wu Man & Lou Harrison
New Pipa Concerto by Zhao Jiping
I am very excited that the Sydney Symphony has commissioned a new pipa concerto for me from composer Zhao Jiping.
Wu Man’s Return to Carnegie Hall
In May 2012 I will return to Carnegie Hall to perform as the pipa soloist in Qigang Chen’s Iris dévoilée with the Milwaukee Symphony as part of the “Spring for Music” festival on Saturday, May 12 at 8:00 pm. Prior to the New York City concert, there will be two performances in Milwaukee on Friday May 4 and Saturday, May 5.
http://springformusic.com/
http://www.mso.org/tickets/detail?perfid=13410
Ong Keng Sen’s “King Lear” Project
In the Summer of 2012 I will be part of a new project by acclaimed Singapore director, Ong Keng Sen. This project is a musical reimagining of Shakespeare’s King Lear that we will perform at international festivals (dates to be announced). This is a very unusual and interesting work for me to be involved in and it is my first time acting a major role.
Ong Keng Sen, whose previous King Lear interpretation was a major success at arts festivals around the world, has decided to give the play a musical voice with this project. Pipa music plays a major role in this production. I have worked with Ong Keng Sen on creating pipa music that tells this story. Sometimes this is the pipa’s voice alone, at other times we are joined by musicians from Indonesia, South Korea and Japan. I play the role of the Eldest Daughter with a Japanese Noh actor playing the role of Lear. For me, it is another exciting way to integrate the pipa and Chinese music into an entirely new format and art-form.
http://theatreworks.org.sg/
Support Wu Man's Documentary Film - Discovering a Musical Heartland: Wu Man Returns to China
http://projectsite.unitedstatesartists.org/project/discovering_a_musical_heartland_wu_man_returns_to_china
Join Wu Man’s Facebook Fan Page
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Wu-Man/138665362813863?ref=ts
Wu Man Profiled on NewsHour with Jim Lehrer
In November, Wu Man was profiled by Jeffrey Brown on PBS's NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. Link »
World Premier Recording of Pipa Works Performed by Wu Man, "Immeasurable Light", Released by Traditional Crossroads September 15
“Immeasurable Light", a new recording by Wu Man that combines reconstructed ancient pipa melodies with her own contemporary compositions, will be released on the Traditional Crossroads label on September 15. The 14 tracks demonstrate the pipa’s extensive history, with melodies spanning from the 6th to 12th centuries to Buddhist mantras, centuries-old shadow puppetry scores and ancient dances. Wu Man was also inspired by her personal musical passions and partnerships, and she is joined by her regular collaborators, the Kronos Quartet, on two tracks.
Ancient Paths, Modern Voices
In October Wu Man curated and hosted concerts as part of Carnegie Hall's extensive celebration of Chinese culture, the Ancient Paths, Modern Voices Festival. Reviews, slideshows and clips from these events are available here. Read More »
Opening Ceremony |
