Wu Man


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Wu Man (1963, Hangzhou, Zhejiang) is a Chinese pipa and ruan player and composer. She is an exponent of the Pudong School of pipa playing.

Wu Man studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where her instructors included Lin Shicheng, Kuang Yuzhong, Chen Zemin, and Liu Dehai. She became the first recipient of a master's degree in pipa and won the first prize in the 1989 National Music Performance Competition.

Although educated in China, Wu came to the United States in 1990 at the age of 25. She lived in Boston for many years and now lives in San Diego, California with her husband and son.

Wu performs with Chinese traditional music groups but is also known for her interpretation of contemporary compositions, as well as her work in jazz and cross-cultural music. Many composers (including Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Lou Harrison, Tan Dun, Bright Sheng, Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Gabriela Lena Frank, Bun-Ching Lam, Evan Ziporyn, among others) have composed new works for her.

Wu has performed and recorded with the Kronos Quartet, Henry Threadgill, Liu Sola, Martin Simpson, and Yo-Yo Ma's The Silk Road Ensemble.

ALBUMS


Daniel Palkowski, ShiLing Shih, Wu Man, F.A.M.E.S. Studio Orchestra, Oleg Kontratenko*
Music Of Daniel Palkowski
2022, CD, Albany Records
Wu Man & Wu Wei
Distant Mountains
2020, CD, Album, Dig, Dreyer Gaido
Wu Man
Elegant Pipa Classics: Wu Man's New Renditions Of Ancient Melodies
2013, CD, Album, Wind Music
Wu Man And Master Musicians From The Silk Route
Borderlands
2011, CD + DVD, Smithsonian Folkways
Wu Man With Guest Performances By The Kronos Quartet
Immeasurable Light
2010, CD, Album, Traditional Crossroads
Tan Dun, Hayashi*, Takemitsu*, Wu Man, Yuri Bashmet, Moscow Soloists
Tan Dun: Pipa Concerto • Hayashi: Viola Concerto • Takemitsu: Nostalghia
2008, CD, Album, Onyx (6)
Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Silk Road Ensemble*, Yo-Yo Ma, Wu Man, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Alan Gilbert
Traditions And Transformations - Sound Of Silk Road Chicago
2008, CD, ,
Modern/Post-Modern/Contemporary
Kronos Quartet And Wu Man - Terry Riley
The Cusp Of Magic
2008, ,
Post-Modern
Jason Kao Hwang*, Francis Wong, Tatsu Aoki + Special Guest Wu Man
Graphic Evidence
2006, CD, Asian Improv Records
Wu Man
Wu Man And Friends
2005
Lou Harrison / Wu Man, The New Professionals Orchestra, Rebecca Miller
For Strings
2004, CD, Album, Mode
Posture of Reality : Wu Man, Tatsu Aoki
Posture of Reality
2003, CD, Album, Asian Improv Records
Wu Man
Pipa: From A Distance
2003, CD, Album, Naxos World
Bright Sheng - Shanghai Quartet, Bright Sheng, Wu Man
Silent Temple
2002, CD, Album, BIS, BIS, ,
Contemporary
Yoshio Kurahashi With Wu Man
Aki No Yugure (Autumn Dusk)
2001, CD, Album, Sparkling Beatnik Records
Wu Man
Chinese Traditional & Contemporary Music For Pipa And Ensemble
2000, 2xCD, Album, Comp, Nimbus Records
Wu Man, Liu Sola
Spring Snowfall
2000, CD, Album, Also Production Inc.
Kronos Quartet, Tan Dun, Wu Man
Ghost Opera
1997, CD, ,
Contemporary/Post-Modern
Martin Simpson, Wu Man
Music For The Motherless Child
1996
Sola* & Wu Man
China Collage
1996, CD, ,
Experimental/Free Improvisation
Wu Man
Chinese Music For The Pipa
1993
Wu Man & Ensemble
Chinese Traditional & Contemporary Music
1996, ,
Chinese Classical/Contemporary/Folk

APPEARANCES +


Wu Man
Tiny Desk Concert
2011, File, MP3, 128, National Public Radio
Silkroad Ensemble* with Rhiannon Giddens
American Railroad
2024, CD, Album, Nonesuch
Silkroad Ensemble*
Phoenix Rising
2023, 12", EP, Silk Road Project, Inc.,
Aga Khan Master Musicians
Nowruz
2023, CD, Smithsonian Folkways
The Knights
Before Christmas
2021, CD, Album, Bright Shiny Things LLC
Shih-Hui Chen
Silvergrass & Other Orchestral Works
2020, CD, Album, New World Records, ,
Contemporary
Harry Gregson-Williams
Mulan (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
2020, CD, ,
Soundtrack/Score
Yo-Yo Ma, Silk Road Ensemble*
Sing Me Home
2016
Hans Zimmer
Kung Fu Panda 3 (Music From The Motion Picture)
2016, CD, ,
Score/Soundtrack
Kronos* Plays Terry Riley
One Earth, One People, One Love: Kronos Plays Terry Riley
2015, Box, Comp + 5xCD, Album, RE, Nonesuch, Nonesuch, Nonesuch, Nonesuch, Nonesuch, Nonesuch, ,
Contemporary
Yo-Yo Ma
In Goed Gezelschap - Yo-Yo Ma In Nederland
2014, 5xCD, Comp, Sony Classical, Sony Classical,
Kronos Quartet
A Thousand Thoughts
2014, ,
Contemporary
The Silk Road Ensemble With Yo-Yo Ma
A Playlist Without Borders
2013, CD,
Lei Liang
Verge - Tremors Of A Memory Chord
2012, CD, Album, Naxos
Kronos Quartet
Floodplain
2009
Yo-Yo Ma & Friends*
Songs Of Joy & Peace
2008, ,
Contemporary Jazz/Religious/Holiday
Philip Glass
Theater Music
2007, CD, Album, Orange Mountain Music, Orange Mountain Music
The Silk Road Ensemble, Yo-Yo Ma, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Miguel Harth-Bedoya
New Impossibilities
2007,
Thomas Buckner
Contexts
2005, CD, Album, Mutable Music
Various
Voice Of The Dragon - A Journey Through Musical China
2005, 2xCD, Amsterdam China Festival, ,
Chinese Classical
Philip Glass
Orion
2005, 2x CD, ,
Modern Classical/Minimal/Contemporary
Kronos Quartet And Asha Bhosle
You've Stolen My Heart (Songs From R.D. Burman's Bollywood)
2005
Various
Naxos World. World Sampler: Delivering A World Of Music
2004, CD, Comp, Smplr, Naxos World,
Yo-Yo Ma
Music From Around The World
2004, CD, Comp, Promo, Smplr, Sony Classical
Yo-Yo Ma, The Silk Road Ensemble
Silk Road Journeys: Beyond The Horizon
2004
Xiaogang Ye
The Last Paradise · Winter · Pipa Concerto · Horizon
2002, CD, WERGO
Various
The Silk Road (A Musical Caravan)
2002, 2x CD, ,
Ottoman Classical/Religious/Folk
Bang On A Can, Terry Riley
In C
2001, CD, Album, Cantaloupe Music, ,
Contemporary/Minimal
Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble
Silk Road Journeys
2001
Bun-Ching Lam
The Child God
1998, CD, Album, Tzadik, ,
Modern/Experimental
Bang On A Can
Music For Airports / Brian Eno Cassette Sampler
1998, Cass, Promo, Smplr, Point Music, ,
Modern Classical/Contemporary/Minimal/Ambient
Bang On A Can, Brian Eno
Music For Airports
1998, CD, ,
Modern Classical/Contemporary/Minimal/Ambient
Fred Ho And The Monkey Orchestra
Monkey: Part Two
1997, CD, Album, Koch Jazz
Kronos Quartet / Tan Dun
Ghost Opera
1997
Kronos Quartet
Early Music (Lachrymæ Antiquæ)
1997
Various
Futur Jazz
1996, CD, Comp, Columbia,
Henry Threadgill Very Very Circus Plus*
Carry The Day
1995, CD, ,
Contemporary Jazz
David Shea
Hsi-Yu Chi
1995, CD, ,
Abstract/Electroacoustic/Experimental/Chinese Classical/Musique Concrète
Zhou Long Featuring Speculum Musicae, The Composers Conference Ensemble, Music From China
Nature And Spirit
1994, CD, Composers Recordings Inc. (CRI), ,
Post-Modern/Contemporary
Various
Midem 1994
1994, 3xCD, Comp, Nimbus Records, ,
Chinese Classical/Celtic/Contemporary/Romantic/Opera/Baroque
Hakim Bey
T.A.Z.
1994
Sola*
Blues In The East
1994, CD, ,
Chinese Classical/Vocal/Blues Rock
Mader
Eat Drink Man Woman (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
1994, CD, ,
Soundtrack/Score
Mader
The Wedding Banquet (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
1993
Various
Presents The Best Of 1993 On Nimbus Records
1993
Various
Nimbus Sampler
1993, CD, ,
Chinese Classical/Celtic/Contemporary/Romantic/Opera/Baroque
Various
Morgenland Festival Osnabrück - Live Recordings
2024, CD, Album, Morgenland Festival, Osnabrück
Various
Songlines: Top Of The World 168
2021, CD, Comp, Songlines,
Various
Magic Kamancheh: Die Streichlauten 1: Asien
2014, 4xCD, Comp + DVD, Comp, NoEthno,
Various
Songlines: Top Of The World 89
2013, CD, Comp, Songlines
Various / John Williams
Songlines: Top Of The World 73
2010, CD, Comp, Promo, Songlines
Various
Acoustic World - China
2008, CD, Album, CORO (2)
Various
La Guitara Gender Bending Strings
2005, CD, Album, Comp, Vanguard Records,
Various
Global Rhythm Magazine Presents Edge Of The World
2004, CD, Comp, Copy Prot., EMI, Narada World,
Various
Jazziz Magazine On-Disc - May 2003 - What In The World (Vol .3)
2003, CD, Comp, Promo, Jazziz, ,
Contemporary Jazz
Various
Global Rhythm On Disc June 2003
2003, CD, Album, Comp, Global Rhythm (2),
Various
World Music Sampler Volume 3
1999, CD, Comp, Nimbus Records
Various
China
1998
Various
A Taste Of Asia
1995
Various
World Music Sampler Volume 2
1994, CD, Smplr, Nimbus Records,
Various
Nimbus Sampler Volume 3
1993
Kronos Quartet
Коллекция Концертов Произведений CD2
2000, CD-ROM, Comp, Unofficial, MP3, Домашняя Коллекция
Kronos Quartet, Wu Man - Tan Dun
Ghost Opera
,
Contemporary/Post-Modern
Sola* & Wu Man
John Zorn And Bill Laswell Presents China Collage
CD, ,
Free Improvisation/Chinese Classical
Kronos Quartet
Early Music (Lachrymæ Antiquæ)
,
Early/Renaissance/Modern
Kronos Quartet with Asha Bhosle
You've Stolen My Heart: Songs From R.D. Burman's Bollywood