CANTON, OHIO (January 8, 2015) - The Canton Symphony Orchestra is honored to be the first orchestra in Ohio to perform China native Zhao Jiping's Pipa Concerto No. 2. Guest artist, Wu Man will perform the solo pipa. The concert, part of the CSO's MasterWorks Series, is tonight, January 24 at 8:00pm at Umstattd Performing Arts Hall (2323 17th Street NW, Canton).
Zhao Jiping's Pipa Concerto No. 2 was commissioned in 2013 by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and co-commissioned by the Canton Symphony Orchestra for Wu Man. "I see the piece not so much as a Western traditional concerto, but more an exploration of poetic expression of thoughts and emotions, able to stimulate many levels of the audience's imagination," Zhao Jiping states. The program for the concert, titled "East Meets West", also includes Edvard Grieg's Holberg Suite and Johannes Brahms' Symphony No. 4.The pipa is a traditional Chinese stringed instrument that dates back to the Qin and Han Dynasties (200BC - 220AD) and is one of the most popular Chinese instruments . Wu Man entered the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing at the age of 13 and was the first to receive a master's degree in pipa. She moved to the United States in 1990 and was selected as a Bunting Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute of Advanced Study at Harvard University. In 1999 Wu Man was selected by Yo-Yo Ma as the winner of the City of Toronto Glenn Gould Protégé Prize in music and communication. She is also the first artist from China to have performed at the White House. She was named Musical America's 2013 Instrumentalist of the Year, the first traditional musician ever to receive this prestigious award.Videos