Wu Man to Premiere Mason Bates' CONCERTO FOR PIPA with LA Chamber Orchestra

Pipa virtuoso Wu Man joins Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and conductor Ludovic Morlot for the world premiere of Mason Bates’ Concerto for Pipa, with performances at Zipper Hall on Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m. and The Wallis on Saturday, November 22 at 4 p.m.

Wu Man and Mason Bates first met during The Philadelphia Orchestra’s 2024 tour of China, where Bates’ Spring River Flowers by Moonlight received its world premiere, and Wu Man appeared as soloist in Zhao Jiping’s Pipa Concerto No. 2. Following their time on tour, Bates conceived the Concerto for Pipa specifically for Wu Man, drawing together elements of American jazz, blues, and minimalism with the musical traditions and distinctive sound world of the pipa. Commissioned by Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO) and The Philadelphia Orchestra, Bates' Concerto for Pipa serves as the inaugural collaboration between the artists.

The program, entitled East Meets West, places Bates’ new concerto within a musical dialogue spanning Chinese folk traditions, European modernism, and the contemporary sound world of Hollywood’s film scores. 

The concert also includes Huang Ruo’s Folksongs for Orchestra, a four-movement work that reflects, transforms, and elaborates on four of China's most well-known folk songs; the world premiere of Irish composer Eímear Noone’s Five Episodes in LA, an autobiographical five-movement flute concerto exploring chapters of her life in Los Angeles, featuring LACO Principal Flutist Benjamin Smolen; and closes with Schoenberg’s Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38, linking European tradition to Los Angeles and the future sound of cinematic scores.

Dedicated to broadening the pipa’s repertoire, Wu Man has partnered with rising and established composers to expand the instrument’s possibilities across musical traditions and styles. Bates’ concerto adds a new chapter to this repertoire. Since coming to the United States in 1990, she has inspired and premiered a substantial body of concerto repertoire, including works by Tan Dun, Lou Harrison, Ye Xiaogang, and Zhao Jiping. Among the most recent is Pulitzer Prize–winning composer Du Yun’s Ears of the Book, which she premiered with The Knights at Carnegie Hall in February 2024. Co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, and The Philadelphia Orchestra, the concerto draws on Chinese regional operatic traditions and was written specifically for Wu Man. 

Following the Los Angeles world premiere, Wu Man will bring Bates’ Concerto for Pipa to additional audiences in the 2027–28 season, with performances planned with Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts and The Philadelphia Orchestra.

ABOUT WU MAN

Recognized as the world’s premier pipa virtuoso and leading ambassador of Chinese music, Wu Man is a soloist, educator, and composer who gives her lute-like instrument a new role in both traditional and contemporary music. She has premiered hundreds of new works for the pipa by leading composers, while also spearheading multimedia projects to both preserve and create awareness of China’s ancient musical traditions. Her projects have elevated the pipa's recognition in solo works, concertos, opera, chamber music, electronic music, jazz, and in theater, film, and dance. She has performed globally with major orchestras and collaborates often with the Kronos Quartet, The Knights, and is a founding member of the Silkroad Ensemble. She has appeared on more than 50 recordings, including numerous Grammy Award-winning and -nominated albums. Born in Hangzhou, China, Wu Man studied at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she is now a Visiting Professor. She is a Distinguished Professor at the Zhejiang and Xi'an Conservatories and received an honorary Doctorate of Music from the New England Conservatory in 2021. In 2023, she received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), one of the U.S.’s most prestigious honors in folk and traditional art. In April 2025, she received the Inaugural Steven Schick Prize for Acts of Musical Imagination and Excellence from the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus, becoming its first recipient. In 2013, Ms. Wu was honored as “Instrumentalist of the Year,” the first non-Western instrument player to receive the award.

For more information visit wumanpipa.org. 

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

Thursday, November 19, 2026, 7:30 PM

Zipper Hall

Sunday, November 22, 2026, 4 PM

The Wallis

Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra

Ludovic Morlot, Conductor

Wu Man, Pipa

Benjamin Smolen, Flute

Huang Ruo: Folksongs for Orchestra

Mason Bates: Concerto for Pipa, WORLD PREMIERE

Eímear Noone: Five Episodes in LA, BEAL FUND WORLD PREMIERE

Schoenberg: Chamber Symphony No. 2, Op. 38

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