Wu Tong, master sheng player,
introduced to us ...
Wu Tong, master sheng player,
introduced to us by Liu Sola
He first visited us in NYC in
2003 right before going on
tour with Yo Yo Ma as part of
the Silk Road Tour
filmed by Verna
Gillis/Soundscape in June,
2007

with support from the Asian
Cultural Council

more

Wu Tong, master sheng player,
introduced to us ...
Wu Tong, master sheng player,
introduced to us by Liu Sola
He first visited us in NYC in
2003 right before going on
tour with Yo Yo Ma as part of
the Silk Road Tour
filmed by Verna
Gillis/Soundscape in June,
2007

with support from the Asian
Cultural Council

http://www.soundscapepresents.
com

'We each play a different
instrument, Western or
Chinese, but the musician
himself is the same. We play
the music with the same
feeling and the same heart, so
its very easy to cooperate
with each other.'

Born to a musical family in
Beijing, Wu Tong has become
his generation's most visible
proponent of traditional
Chinese music. As a founding
vocalist of the pioneering
rock band Lunhui (Again),
which merges Western and Asian
traditions, a performer with
Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble,
and a soloist with the New
York Philharmonic, London
Sinfonietta and Singapore
Symphony Orchestra, Wu has
achieved an unparalleled
following for Chinese music on
three continents.

Wu began his musical studies
at age five with his father,
and soon won dozens of
national and international
competitions in the Chinese
wind instrument category.
Throughout his youth, Wu was
showcased as a national star,
playing for Chinese
dignitaries and visiting
leaders. He entered the
Beijing Central Conservatory
of Music's pre-college program
at age 11, and upon graduation
from the Conservatory at age
19 became the youngest soloist
of the China Central
Traditional Music and Dance
Company, which toured
extensively throughout China
and abroad.

In 1991, Wu and four Central
Conservatory classmates
founded Lunhui and began
merging the energy of rock
music with traditional Chinese
form and asthetics. After
their 1993 hit 'On the Way to
Wartime Yangzhou,' which set
the words of Song Dynasty poet
Xin Qiji to music, JVC Japan
immediately signed the band.
Subsequent recordings in 1995,
1997 and 2001 made Lunhui
China's premier rock band in
sales as well as live
performances. Lunhui became
the first rock band to appear
on Chinese national television
in 2000, and is featured
regularly on national
broadcasts and pan-Asian cable
television.

In 1999, Wu was invited to
join the Silk Road Project
Workshop at the Tanglewood
Music Festival. He was the
featured vocalist for 'Blue
Little Flower,' his
arrangement of the traditional
Chinese folksong, and on the
Ensemble's recording Silk Road
Journeys: When Strangers Meet,
released by Sony Classical.
Wu's voice and arrangements
are also featured in Silk Road
Journeys: Beyond the Horizon,
the Ensemble's second
recording released by Sony
Classical. He appears on the
latest Silk Road Ensemble
album from Sony Classical, New
Impossibilities. He has been a
guest on the Late Show with
David Letterman, and, in 2004,
spent several months working
with Siemens at its U.S.
headquarters to develop
looping technology for a new
electric sheng.

Wu remains a chart-topping
vocalist in China while
continuing to travel
extensively with the Silk Road
Ensemble. In recent seasons,
he has appeared with the
Ensemble at such prestigious
locations as the Aichi World
Expo, the Hollywood Bowl,
Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall
and Millennium Park. In April
2007, he was featured with the
Silk Road Ensemble in a series
of concerts with the Chicago
Symphony Orchestra

Category Music

Tags Wu, Tong, -, Solo, in, Beijing