Chinese Pipa Concerto

Hawaiʻi Public Radio | By Craig DeSilva

Published September 18, 2025 at 6:25 PM HST

They call her the Jimi Hendrix of the pipa, a 2,000-year-old lute-like Chinese instrument. Wu Man is one of the few pipa virtuoso performers in the world. She spoke to Evening Concert host Craig DeSilva about her Hawai ʻ i Symphony Orchestra performance this weekend of a pipa concerto that was composed for her. Man is a five-time Grammy nominee, a founding member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Project, and a long-time collaborator with the Kronos Quartet.

Hawaii Symphony Orchestra
STRAUSS & RESPIGHI
Wu Man performs Jiping Zhao’s Pipa Concerto No. 2
Sunday, Sept. 21
4 p.m.
Neal S. Blaisdell Concert Hall

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Craig DeSilva

Craig DeSilva is glad to be playing recorded music on the air instead of playing for a live audience on stage as did when he studied piano. He began piano lessons when he was a child and continued piano studies at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (where he majored in broadcast journalism and minored in music) under the late Peter Coraggio.

See stories by Craig DeSilva