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Min Xiao-Fen
Pipa soloist and composer Min Xiao-Fen, internationally known for her virtuosity and fluid style, has received high acclaim for her classical, new music and jazz performances. She learned the pipa from her father, Min Ji-Qian, a professor and pipa master at Nanjing University. At age 17, she was chosen by famed Nanjing Traditional Music Orchestra of China and became a pipa soloist for more than ten years. She also won first prize at the Jiangsu national pipa competition and eventually become a first class artist in China.
In 1992, after Ms. Min came to the United States, she was featured soloist with the New York City Opera, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Pacific Symphony and San Diego Symphony and the vocal ensemble Chanticleer. Min has appeared at solo concerts at the Utrecht International Lute Festival, the Vienna Music Festival, the Brussels Lute Festival, the Berlin Chinese Music Festival and the New York Guitar Festival. She worked with pianist Randy Weston, composing a duet piece, Shang, with Mr. Weston and recorded on his album Khepera (Verve). Min also recorded Shaolin Ulysses and The Port of Last Resort (Tzadik), movie soundtracks composed by John Zorn. She premiered composer Tan Dun’s Peony Pavilion (Sony), an opera with director Peter Sellars. She has worked with composers Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Philip Glass, Wadada Leo Smith, Carl Stone and Derek Bailey, among many others. Min’s solo recording, The Moon Rising (Cala), was hailed by BBC Music Magazine as “one of the best CDs of 1996.” Her recording Viper (Avant), improvisations with Derek Bailey, was one of The Wire Magazine’s 1998 “Albums of the Year.” In December 2003, Min became the first Chinese musician invited to play at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City and performed a solo set of the music of Thelonious Monk. In 2004, she was invited by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band of New Orland to play as a special guest, and she also premiered “Ping Pong,” composer Anthony De Ritis’ pipa concerto, with the Taipei Chinese Music Orchestra. Her piece, “The Loneliest Monk,” was commissioned and performed by the Kitchen’s House Blend in New York. 2005 – 2006 highlights included appearances with her Blue Pipa Trio at the JVC Jazz Festival, the Deer Isle Jazz Festival, the world premiere of seven pieces with the Nieuw Ensemble at the Amsterdam-China Music Festival, and six solo concerts in Holland and Belgium organized by RASA (Centre for World Cultures). Ms. Min was also the subject of a feature article in The New York Times by Joseph Horowitz.
Min has taught master classes and was an artist in residence at schools and universities across the United States and Europe, including the Boston Conservatory, the New School, the Haystack Mountain School of Arts Crafts and the Amsterdam Conservatory. She currently lives in New York City, and is also the founder of Blue Pipa, Inc.
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