Gao Hong

Gao Hong, a renowned Chinese pipa player, composer, improviser and educator graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing where she studied with pipa master Lin Shicheng. She has received numerous awards and honors at home and abroad. In 2005, Gao Hong became the first traditional musician to be awarded the prestigious Bush Artist Fellowship, and in 2019 she became the only musician in any genre to win five McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians. She has also been awarded Gold Medals by the Global Music Awards for her CDs and compositions. In 2018, she was awarded a Sally Award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. She has received numerous commissions and has performed countless U.S. and world premieres of pipa concerti with organizations such as the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Heidelberg Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, China National Orchestra, and many others. In 2016, Gao Hong completed the first pipa method book ever written in English and had it published by Hal Leonard. She is Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music and China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and the Tianjing Conservatory of Music. In 2022, Mayor Melvin Carter of St. Paul proclaimed April 3, 2022 to be “Gao Hong Day in the City of St. Paul” in honor of Gao Hong’s milestone concert at the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts - “50 YEARS OF MAKING MUSIC WITH FRIENDS”. She is a Board member for the American Composers Forum and Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, and is a Recording Academy Voting Member for the Grammys and an Advisor to the Board for the Recording Academy’s Chicago Chapter. (www.chinesepipa.com)