Dating back more than 2000 years, the Pipa (a four stringed instrument often referred to as a lute) is one of the most ancient instruments still played in today’s world. Known for her mastery of the instrument, virtuoso Pipa player Yadong Guan, a native of Bejing, will perform a solo concert that will embrace and captivate the soul of the listener!

About Yadong Guan
Born in Beijing, China, Yadong Guan started studying Pipa at the age of seven and completed her university training as a musician with Master Lin Shi Cheng, an artist and renown teacher. In 1996, when she graduated, she won the first prize in the National Art Student Contest. Since then, she has been selected many times to participate in cultural exchanges and distinguished herself in various contests as a Pipa virtuoso as well as a composer.

About the Pipa
During the Tang dynasty, between 618 to 907 A.D. Pipa became the most appreciated instrument in China. Since then, its popularity has never decreased over the centuries, while its repertoire and techniques have been transmitted and developed from generation to generation.

Made of four metal strings, the modern Pipa benefits from a stop of more than three octaves due to its thirty frets, which are placed up to the center of its resonance chamber. Except when using five fingers on which artificial nails are placed for each performance, Pipa shares some play techniques with classic guitar such as tremolo and arpeggios while its pear shape recalls the European lute.

Many years of training and practice are essential for the artist who wants to make the most of all the expressive resources this instrument offers. This is so because of its imposed technical requirements as well as the multiple subtleties that interpreting its repertoire represent.