Widely recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and a 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. In concert halls around the world Wu Man 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. She performs regularly with Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble, the Kronos Quartet, and in chamber groups and orchestras giving the premieres of works by Terry Riley, Philip Glass, Chen Yi, and Bright Sheng, who have written pipa parts into their works with her sound and dexterity in mind.