Dating all the way back to the Qin Dynasty, the pipa is a four-stringed Chinese lute. Its name refers to the delicate sound created by the back and forth plucking motion: pi and pa.

Wu Man started playing the pipa when she was just nine years old. By 13, she became the youngest student at the Central Conservatory of Music in China. Today, she is one of the world’s foremost players of the pipa, as well as a distinguished composer and passionate advocate of Chinese traditional music.

A founding member of the Aga Khan Master Musicians, she is joined on stage by her fellow AKMM peers, Uzbek doira virtuoso Abbos Kosimov and Sirojiddin Juraev playing Tajik dutar and tanbour, for a performance of newly-created pieces exploring their common musical heritage.

Known to cast a ‘quiet spell’ on her audiences (The New York Times), her captivating performance style earned her the title as the first player of a non-Western instrument to receive Musical America’s Instrumentalist of the Year award.

This concert is presented and curated in partnership with the Aga Khan Music Programme.

Supported by Sir Ewan and Lady Brown together with Flure Grossart.

This concert was curated in partnership with the Aga Khan Music Programme.