Gao Hong

This article is about the musician. For the football goalkeeper, see Gao Hong (footballer).
This is a Chinese name; the family name is Gao.
Gao Hong
Chinese

Gao Hong (born 1964 in Luoyang, Henan) is a composer and performer of the Chinese pipa (pear-shaped lute).

Gao has lived in the United States since 1994. She performs traditional and modern Chinese music, with her groups Spirit of Nature and Beijing Trio (a different group from the Beijing Trio which includes Max Roach, Jon Jang, and Jiebing Chen). She has also participated in cross-cultural musical collaborations, performing with jazz musicians and musicians from other cultures, including James Newton and Shubhendra Rao.

She is a graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with the pipa master Lin Shicheng, of the Pudong School of pipa playing. She later became a pipa soloist for the Beijing Song and Dance Troupe.

Early life

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution, Gao Hong's father was sent to a rural area of China, due to his criticism of the Mao Zedong and the Chinese government. Her mother, being highly concerned about her future, took her to a fortune teller at age 6 to find out what her future would be like. The fortune teller told her that she would be a "flying dragon" (a Chinese nickname given to people who travel all over and never settle down, which is also the name of one of her compositions). When she was 12 years old she became a professional pipa player and was already traveling throughout China to perform in concerts and different shows.

Move to the United States

In 1994 Gao gave a 10-city tour of the United States and eventually settled in Minnesota. She is currently on the music faculty of Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she teaches Chinese instruments and is the director of Carleton Chinese Music Ensemble. She lives with her husband and daughter in Northfield, Minnesota.

Discography

"Pipa Potluck - Lutes Around the World" - Gao Hong is joined by an all-star cast of musicians that includes two Grammy winners and master performers on the oud, slack key guitar, banjo, classical guitar and others.

Awards and honors

1984

1989

1996

1997

1998

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

External links

See also

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