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111-680: In July 2020, Rhiannon Giddens took over from Yo-Yo Ma as Artistic Director. In 2009, Silkroad began an educational pilot program for middle-school students in New York City public schools. The Silk Road Connect program focuses on passion-driven education through arts integration and is being developed with help from education experts at the Harvard Graduate School of Education . In July 2012, Silkroad and Harvard Graduate School of Education presented "The Arts and Passion-Driven Learning," an arts education institute that modeled

222-517: A cymbal -like effect. The strings are usually tuned to A 2 D 3 E 3 A 3 , although there are various other ways of tuning. Since the revolutions in Chinese instrument-making during the 20th century, the softer twisted silk strings of earlier times have been exchanged for nylon-wound steel strings, which are far too strong for human fingernails, so false nails are now used, constructed of plastic or tortoise-shell, and affixed to

333-700: A "postmodern string band", Sankofa Strings. During that same time period, Giddens was also a regular caller at local contra dances and featured in a Celtic music band called Gaelwynd. Later in 2005, after both Gaelwynd and Sankofa Strings had released CD albums, Giddens and Flemons teamed up with other musicians and expanded the Sankofa Strings sound into what was to become the Grammy winning Carolina Chocolate Drops . In 2007, Giddens contributed fiddle, banjo, "flat-footin'" dancing and additional vocals to Talitha MacKenzie 's album Indian Summer . Performing as

444-706: A North American concert tour by the Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma in March 2009, which featured the North American premiere of Layla and Majnun , a chamber arrangement for the Silk Road Ensemble of a traditional Azerbaijani opera. The organization has published a book, Along the Silk Road , and commissioned more than 70 new chamber music compositions. Silkroad has also created educational materials entitled "Silk Road Encounters" and has partnered with

555-607: A black teen from rural Bladenboro, North Carolina . On November 27, 2015, to coincide with the Black Friday Record Store Day event, Giddens released Factory Girl (EP) on Nonesuch Records, which contained music culled from the same T Bone Burnett–produced sessions that yielded Tomorrow Is My Turn . A digital version of Factory Girl was made available December 11, 2015. The sessions for the album and EP took place in Los Angeles and Nashville , with

666-739: A cappella track "We Rise" to the LP We Are Not For Sale: Songs of Protest by the NC Music Love Army – a collective of activist musicians from North Carolina founded by Jon Lindsay and Caitlin Cary . Giddens' protest song joins contributions from many other Carolina musical luminaries on the Lindsay-produced compilation (11/26/13 via Redeye Distribution ), which was created to support the NC NAACP and

777-561: A cover of " St. James Infirmary Blues " with Tom Jones . In January 2016, she was selected to take part in Transatlantic Sessions . This collaboration between American and Celtic musicians is a coveted honor. The ensemble performed as part of Celtic Connections in Glasgow, and a short UK/Irish tour. Her performances on the tour included the stirring tribute to David Bowie "It Ain't Easy". On October 8, 2016, Rhiannon

888-579: A daughter born in 2009 and a son born in 2013. They had separated as of 2018. Giddens currently lives in Limerick , Ireland. In 2019, Giddens began a relationship with her Italian musical partner Francesco Turrisi . They released albums together in May 2019 and April 2021. See Nashville discography Seasons Five and Six for songs performed by Hallie Jordan (played by Rhiannon Giddens) Pipa The pipa , pípá , or p'i-p'a ( Chinese : 琵琶 )

999-500: A description of a pipa performance during a chance encounter with a female pipa player on the Yangtze River : Thick strings clatter like splattering rain, Fine strings murmur like whispered words, Clattering and murmuring, meshing jumbled sounds, Like pearls, big and small, falling on a platter of jade. The encounter also inspired a poem by Yuan Zhen , Song of Pipa (琵琶歌). Another excerpt of figurative descriptions of

1110-547: A form of poetry meant to be sung and accompanied by instruments such as pipa . They included Ouyang Xiu , Wang Anshi , and Su Shi . During the Yuan dynasty , the playwright Gao Ming wrote a play for nanxi opera called Pipa ji (琵琶記, or "Story of the Pipa"), a tale about an abandoned wife who set out to find her husband, surviving by playing the pipa . It is one of the most enduring works in Chinese theatre, and one that became

1221-590: A model for Ming dynasty drama as it was the favorite opera of the first Ming emperor . The Ming collection of supernatural tales Fengshen Yanyi tells the story of Pipa Jing , a pipa spirit, but ghost stories involving pipa existed as early as the Jin dynasty, for example in the 4th century collection of tales Soushen Ji . Novels of the Ming and Qing dynasties such as Jin Ping Mei showed pipa performance to be

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1332-717: A multi-generational group of players assembled by Burnett. Musicians on Factory Girl include Burnett; fiddle player Gabe Witcher and double bassist Paul Kowert of Punch Brothers ; percussionist Jack Ashford of Motown's renowned Funk Brothers ; drummer Jay Bellerose ; guitarist Colin Linden ; veteran Nashville session bassist Dennis Crouch; and Giddens's Carolina Chocolate Drops touring band-mates, multi-instrumentalist Hubby Jenkins and beat-boxer Adam Matta . Rhiannon appeared on Jools Holland's Hootenanny on December 31, 2015, shown on BBC Two . She performed songs from her 2015 album Tomorrow Is My Turn , including "Waterboy" and

1443-512: A non-Chinese origin. The earliest mention of pipa in Chinese texts appeared late in the Han dynasty around the 2nd century AD. According to Liu Xi's Eastern Han dynasty Dictionary of Names , the word pipa may have an onomatopoeic origin (the word being similar to the sounds the instrument makes), although modern scholarship suggests a possible derivation from the Persian word " barbat ",

1554-458: A normal aspect of life in these periods at home (where the characters in the novels may be proficient in the instrument) as well as outside on the street or in pleasure houses. The name "pipa" is made up of two Chinese syllables, "pí" (琵) and "pá" (琶). These, according to the Han dynasty text by Liu Xi, refer to the way the instrument is played – "pí" is to strike outward with the right hand, and "pá"

1665-401: A noted player during the late Qing dynasty. In the 20th century, two of the most prominent pipa players were Sun Yude (孙裕德; 1904–1981) and Li Tingsong (李廷松; 1906–1976). Both were pupils of Wang Yuting (1872–1951), and both were active in establishing and promoting Guoyue ("national music"), which is a combination of traditional regional music and Western musical practices. Sun performed in

1776-488: A pipa music may be found in a eulogy for a pipa player, Lament for Shancai by Li Shen : On the plectrum, figure of a golden phoenix with flowers in its beak, With turned wrist, he gathered the strings to pluck and strum faster. The flowers fluttered, and from Heaven the phoenix trilled, Lingering, filling the palace hall, spring snow flew. During the Song dynasty, many of the literati and poets wrote ci verses ,

1887-458: A social worker and gospel singer who is a significant character in Juliette's storyline. Giddens appeared in 11 episodes and performed several songs that have been made available following each episode. Giddens is featured in the 2024 documentary Cover Your Ears produced by Prairie Coast Films and directed by Sean Patrick Shaul , discussing music censorship. Giddens is featured in

1998-436: A soprano, Giddens and mezzo-soprano Cheryse McLeod Lewis formed a duo called Eleganza to release a CD in 2009. Because I Knew You... consists of classical, religious, theater, and movie music. Giddens and Lewis were middle school classmates who reconnected after college while working in the same office. The friends started singing together in 2003, but did not begin recording until 2008. As of November 12, 2013, Giddens became

2109-452: A standard metrical length of 68 measures or beat, and these may be joined to form the larger pieces dagu . Famous solo pieces now performed include: Most of the above are traditional compositions dating to the Qing dynasty or early 20th century, new pieces however are constantly being composed, and most of them follow a more Western structure. Examples of popular modern works composed after

2220-630: A straight neck and a round sound box , and evolved into ruan , an instrument named after Ruan Xian , one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and known for playing similar instrument. Yet another term used in ancient text was Qinhanzi (秦漢子), perhaps similar to Qin pipa with a straight neck and a round body, but modern opinions differ on its precise form. The pear-shaped pipa is likely to have been introduced to China from Central Asia, Gandhara , and/or India. As people traveled along

2331-537: A vigorous fashion employing a variety of techniques and sound effects. The wu style was associated more with the Northern school while the wen style was more the Southern school. The da and xiao categories refer to the size of the piece – xiao pieces are small pieces normally containing only one section, while da pieces are large and usually contain multiple sections. The traditional pieces however often have

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2442-613: Is a musical collective and a part of Silkroad. The ensemble is not a fixed group of musicians, but rather a loose collective of as many as 59 musicians, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers from Eurasian cultures. The Ensemble has regularly commissioned new works from across a broad musical spectrum, including works by Zhao Jiping and Dmitri Yanov-Yanovsky, and is known for its series of interdisciplinary festivals and residencies presented in North America, Europe, and Asia. They have performed in many locations along

2553-958: Is a 1995 alumna of the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics , and a 2000 graduate of Oberlin Conservatory at Oberlin College , where she studied opera. In 2005, Giddens, who at that time was spending time participating in Scottish traditional music competitions (specializing in the Gaelic lilting tradition, also known as mouth music), attended the Black Banjo Then and Now Gathering, in Boone, North Carolina . There she met Dom Flemons and Súle Greg Wilson. The three started playing together professionally as

2664-462: Is a traditional Chinese musical instrument belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the "Chinese lute ", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12 to 31. Another Chinese four-string plucked lute is the liuqin , which looks like a smaller version of the pipa. The pear-shaped instrument may have existed in China as early as

2775-505: Is also an important component of regional chamber ensemble traditions such as Jiangnan sizhu , Teochew string music and Nanguan ensemble. In Nanguan music, the pipa is still held in the near-horizontal position or guitar-fashion in the ancient manner instead of the vertical position normally used for solo playing in the present day. There were originally two major schools of pipa during the Qing dynasty—the Northern ( Zhili , 直隸派) and Southern ( Zhejiang , 浙江派) schools—and from these emerged

2886-411: Is however possible to produce the tremolo with just one or more fingers. The left hand techniques are important for the expressiveness of pipa music. Techniques that produce vibrato , portamento , glissando , pizzicato , harmonics or artificial harmonics found in violin or guitar are also found in pipa. String-bending for example may be used to produce a glissando or portamento. Note however that

2997-552: Is to pluck inward towards the palm of the hand. The strings were played using a large plectrum in the Tang dynasty , a technique still used now for the Japanese biwa . It has however been suggested that the long plectrum depicted in ancient paintings may have been used as a friction stick like a bow. The plectrum has now been largely replaced by the fingernails of the right hand. The most basic technique, tantiao (彈挑), involves just

3108-614: Is unlikely to be pear-shaped as they are now usually depicted. Other early known players of pipa include General Xie Shang from the Jin dynasty who was described to have performed it with his leg raised on tiptoe. The introduction of pipa from Central Asia also brought with it virtuoso performers from that region, for example Sujiva (蘇祇婆, Sujipo ) from the Kingdom of Kucha during the Northern Zhou dynasty, Kang Kunlun (康崑崙) from Kangju , and Pei Luoer (裴洛兒) from Shule . Pei Luoer

3219-703: The BBC Radio 2 Blues Show while its regular host Cerys Matthews was on her holidays. Giddens earned an Honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro for her lasting impact on the UNCG community and work in music. She sang "Calling me Home" by Alice Gerrard at a virtual commencement after accepting the degree in December 2020. In 2023, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music from Princeton University. In 2023, Giddens joined

3330-596: The Cambridge Folk Festival by inviting Peggy Seeger , Kaia Kater , Birds of Chicago , Amythyst Kiah, and Yola Carter to perform at the event. Giddens recorded vocals for Silo Songs , an audio installation created by composer Brad Wells for Hancock Shaker Village . She contributed a song, "Mountain Hymn", to the popular video game Red Dead Redemption 2 which was released in October 2018. The song

3441-614: The Han dynasty , and although historically the term pipa was once used to refer to a variety of plucked chordophones , its usage since the Song dynasty refers exclusively to the pear-shaped instrument. The pipa is one of the most popular Chinese instruments and has been played for almost two thousand years in China. Several related instruments are derived from the pipa, including the Japanese biwa and Korean bipa in East Asia , and

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3552-635: The High River Flows East (高河江東, Gaohe Jiangdong ) collection dating from 1528 which are very similar to those performed today, such as "The Moon on High" (月兒高, Yue-er Gao ). During the Qing dynasty , scores for pipa were collected in Thirteen Pieces for Strings . During the Qing dynasty there originally two major schools of pipa —the Northern and Southern schools, and music scores for these two traditions were collected and published in

3663-591: The Moral Monday movement. In early 2014, Giddens recorded for Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes alongside Elvis Costello , Marcus Mumford , Taylor Goldsmith and Jim James . The album was produced by T Bone Burnett and is a compilation of partial, unreleased lyrics written by Bob Dylan . In February 2015, Giddens released her debut solo album, Tomorrow Is My Turn , on Nonesuch Records . Also produced by Burnett,

3774-678: The Shanghai Conservatory of Music . Players from the Wang and Pudong schools were the most active in performance and recording during the 20th century, less active was the Pinghu school whose players include Fan Boyan (樊伯炎). Other noted players of the early 20th century include Liu Tianhua , a student of Shen Zhaozhou of the Chongming school and who increased the number of frets on the pipa and changed to an equal-tempered tuning, and

3885-845: The Shosoin Museum in Japan. It had close association with Buddhism and often appeared in mural and sculptural representations of musicians in Buddhist contexts. One of the Buddhist Four Heavenly Kings , the Eastern Dhṛtarāṣṭra , is often depicted with a pipa. Additionally, masses of pipa -playing Buddhist semi-deities are depicted in the wall paintings of the Mogao Caves near Dunhuang . The four and five-stringed pipas were especially popular during

3996-517: The Silk Road , the "oval" or oval-shaped pipa traveled through Central Asia and was introduced to China, where it became known as the "pipa." Pear-shaped lutes have been depicted in Kusana sculptures from the 1st century AD. The pear-shaped pipa may have been introduced during the Han dynasty and was referred to as Han pipa. However, depictions of the pear-shaped pipas in China only appeared after

4107-587: The Vietnamese đàn tỳ bà in Southeast Asia . The Korean instrument is the only one of the three that is no longer widely used. There are some confusions and disagreements about the origin of pipa. This may be due to the fact that the word pipa was used in ancient texts to describe a variety of plucked chordophones of the period from the Qin to the Tang dynasty , including the long-necked spiked lute and

4218-550: The Wusun and Xiongnu peoples in what is now Mongolia , northern Xinjiang and Kazakhstan . Wang Zhaojun in particular is frequently referenced with pipa in later literary works and lyrics, for example Ma Zhiyuan 's play Autumn in the Palace of Han (漢宮秋), especially since the Song dynasty (although her story is often conflated with other women including Liu Xijun), as well as in music pieces such as Zhaojun's Lament (昭君怨, also

4329-661: The country , blues , and old-time music band the Carolina Chocolate Drops , where she was the lead singer, fiddle player, and banjo player. Giddens is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina . In addition to her work with the Grammy -winning Chocolate Drops, Giddens has released five solo albums: Tomorrow Is My Turn (2015) and Freedom Highway (2017), 2019 and 2021's There Is No Other and They're Calling Me Home (both collaborations with Italian multi-instrumentalist Francesco Turrisi ), and You're

4440-523: The pipa in their song "Blood" as played by singer/guitarist Mark Kelson on their album Kartika . The artist Yang Jing plays pipa with a variety of groups. The instrument is also played by musician Min Xiaofen in "I See Who You Are", a song from Björk 's album Volta . Western performers of pipa include French musician Djang San , who integrated jazz and rock concepts to the instrument such as power chords and walking bass . The electric pipa

4551-454: The 10th century, players began to hold the instrument "more upright", as the fingernail style became more important. Through time, the neck was raised and by the Qing dynasty the instrument was mostly played upright. Pipa has been played solo, or as part of a large ensemble or small group since the early times. Few pieces for pipa survived from the early periods, some, however, are preserved in Japan as part of togaku (Tang music) tradition. In

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4662-584: The 1950s are " Dance of the Yi People " and "Heroic Little Sisters of the Grassland" (草原英雄小姐妹). Non-traditional themes may be used in these new compositions and some may reflect the political landscape and demands at the time of composition, for example "Dance of the Yi People" which is based on traditional melodies of the Yi people , may be seen as part of the drive for national unity, while "Heroic Little Sisters of

4773-569: The 2020 Spoleto Festival USA , Rhiannon Giddens was commissioned to create an opera based on the Arabic language autobiography of Omar Ibn Said , a highly literate and cultured Torodbe (Muslim cleric) from the Fula people of modern Senegal , who was enslaved in an intertribal war against the Imamate of Futa Toro and brought aboard a slave ship to Charleston, South Carolina in 1807. Giddens wrote

4884-719: The 2022 documentary Black Fiddlers next to Justin Robinson. Produced by Heritage Film Project and directed by Eduardo Montes-Bradley . In the film Giddens shares her memories of Joe Thomson and Odell Thomson. Rhiannon Giddens has announced that she will have four children's books published by Candlewick Press . The first two books, scheduled for release in Fall 2022, are based on the lyrics of her songs "Build A House" and "We Could Fly" with illustrations by Monica Mikai and Briana Mukodiri Uchendu respectively. Giddens married Irish traditional musician Michael Laffan in 2007. They have

4995-465: The 3rd century onwards, through the Sui and Tang dynasty, the pear-shaped pipas became increasingly popular in China. By the Song dynasty , the word pipa was used to refer exclusively to the four-stringed pear-shaped instrument. The pipa reached a height of popularity during the Tang dynasty , and was a principal musical instrument in the imperial court. It may be played as a solo instrument or as part of

5106-802: The Central Conservatory of Music and became the director of the Shanghai Pipa Society, and a member of the Chinese Musicians Association and Chinese National Orchestral Society, before immigrating to Canada. She now performs with Red Chamber and the Vancouver Chinese Music Ensemble. Gao Hong graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music and was the first to do a joint tour with Lin Shicheng in North America. They recorded

5217-570: The Grassland" extols the virtue of those who served as model of exemplary behaviour in the People's commune . There are a number of different traditions with different styles of playing pipa in various regions of China, some of which then developed into schools. In the narrative traditions where the pipa is used as an accompaniment to narrative singing, there are the Suzhou tanci (蘇州彈詞), Sichuan qingyin (四川清音), and Northern quyi (北方曲藝) genres. Pipa

5328-471: The Han dynasty during the Jin dynasty in the late 4th to early 5th century. Pipa acquired a number of Chinese symbolisms during the Han dynasty - the instrument length of three feet five inches represents the three realms (heaven, earth, and man) and the five elements , while the four strings represent the four seasons. Depictions of the pear-shaped pipas appeared in abundance from the Southern and Northern dynasties onwards, and pipas from this time to

5439-409: The Map was nominated in the Best Classical Crossover Album category at the 53rd Grammy Awards in 2011. In addition to Ma, performing members of the ensemble include: Silk Road Ensemble composers and arrangers include: Silk Road Chicago was a citywide celebration, from June 2006 to June 2007, with special events, performances, and exhibitions that explored cross-cultural discovery and celebrated

5550-432: The Ming dynasty, famous pipa players include Zhong Xiuzhi (鍾秀之), Zhang Xiong (張雄, known for his playing of "Eagle Seizing Swan"), the blind Li Jinlou (李近樓), and Tang Yingzeng (湯應曾) who was known to have played a piece that may be an early version of "Ambushed from Ten Sides". During the Qing dynasty, apart from those of the various schools previously mentioned, there was Chen Zijing (陳子敬), a student of Ju Shilin and known as

5661-453: The Nashville Ballet announced that Rhiannon Giddens has been commissioned to write the music for Lucy Negro, Redux , a new dance choreographed by artistic director, Paul Vasterling. Based on the book of the same name by Caroline Randall Williams , its premise is that Shakespeare's Dark Lady was of African descent. The ballet premiered in February 2019. Then, in March 2018, Giddens fulfilled a previously announced engagement as guest curator for

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5772-502: The One (2023). She appears in the Smithsonian Folkways collection documenting Mike Seeger 's final trip through Appalachia in 2009, Just Around The Bend: Survival and Revival in Southern Banjo Styles – Mike Seeger's Last Documentary (2019). In 2014, she participated in the T Bone Burnett -produced project titled The New Basement Tapes along with several other musicians, which set a series of recently discovered Bob Dylan lyrics to newly composed music. The resulting album, Lost on

5883-527: The Pipa, built by an instrument maker named Tim Sway called "Electric Pipa 2.0". The pipa has also been used in rock music; the California-based band Incubus featured one, borrowed from guitarist Steve Vai , in their 2001 song " Aqueous Transmission ," as played by the group's guitarist, Mike Einziger . The Shanghai progressive/folk-rock band Cold Fairyland , which was formed in 2001, also use pipa (played by Lin Di ), sometimes multi-tracking it in their recordings. Australian dark rock band The Eternal use

5994-408: The Qing dynasty, then to 19, 24, 29, and 30 in the 20th century. The 4 wedge-shaped frets on the neck became 6 during the 20th century. The 14- or 16-fret pipa had frets arranged in approximately equivalent to the western tone and semitone , starting at the nut, the intervals were T-S-S-S-T-S-S-S-T-T-3/4-3/4-T-T-3/4-3/4 . Some frets produced a 3/4 tone or "neutral tone". In the 1920s and 1930s,

6105-521: The River: The New Basement Tapes , was a top-40 Billboard album. In 2023, the opera Omar , co-written by Giddens and Michael Abels , won the Pulitzer Prize for Music . Giddens is of multiracial ancestry. Her father, David Giddens, is European-American . Her mother, Deborah Jamieson, is a descendant of African Americans and Native American tribes including the Lumbee , Occaneechi , and Seminole . Giddens does not claim any specific tribal affiliation. David and Deborah met as college students in

6216-438: The Silk Road Connect arts integration approach. The program has continued each year since. In celebration of its 10th anniversary, Silkroad presented performances and programs by the Silk Road Ensemble in North America, Asia and Europe from 2008 to 2010. Its anniversary season began with the Silk Road Ensemble's performance with Yo-Yo Ma of the United Nations Day Concert in October 2008. Tenth-anniversary activities also included

6327-422: The Silk Road Ensemble is a documentary film about Silkroad directed by Morgan Neville . The film was released in U.S. theaters starting in June 2016. The Orchard has acquired all worldwide rights to the film with the exception of U.S. domestic television rights, which HBO has acquired. Reviews of the documentary included: Rotten Tomatoes 85%; Washington Post 3/4; and, 7/10 IMDb . The Silk Road Ensemble

6438-400: The Silk Road Ensemble has also been involved in short-term residencies at Museum Rietberg in Zurich, Switzerland; The Art Institute of Chicago ; University of California, Santa Barbara ; Rubin Museum of Art in New York City; Nara National Museum in Nara, Japan; the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts; and the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto. The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma and

6549-443: The Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education (SPICE) to produce Along the Silk Road , a curriculum for students in grades six-10, and The Road to Beijing , a documentary made available with related lessons about Beijing in advance of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games . Silkroad is affiliated with Harvard University ; the organization moved its offices to the Harvard campus in Boston, Massachusetts, in July 2010 at

6660-405: The Tang dynasty were given various names, such as Hu pipa (胡琵琶), bent-neck pipa (曲項琵琶, quxiang pipa), some of these terms however may refer to the same pipa. Apart from the four-stringed pipa, other pear-shaped instruments introduced include the five-stringed, straight-necked, wuxian pipa (五弦琵琶, also known as Kuchean pipa (龜茲琵琶)), a six-stringed version, as well as the two-stringed hulei (忽雷). From

6771-442: The Tang dynasty, and these instruments were introduced into Japan during the Tang dynasty as well as into other regions such as Korea and Vietnam . The five-stringed pipa however had fallen from use by the Song dynasty , although attempts have been made to revive this instrument in the early 21st century with a modernized five-string pipa modeled on the Tang dynasty instrument. During the Song dynasty, pipa fell from favour at

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6882-424: The United States, Asia, and Europe, and in 1956 became deputy director of the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra . As well as being one of the leading pipa players of his generation, Li held many academic positions and also carried out research on pipa scales and temperament. Wei Zhongle (卫仲乐; 1908－1997) played many instruments, including the guqin . In the early 1950s, he founded the traditional instruments department at

6993-416: The album includes songs made famous by Patsy Cline , Odetta , Dolly Parton , and Nina Simone , among others. The Wall Street Journal said the album "confirms the arrival of a significant talent whose voice and distinctive approach communicate the simmering emotion at the core of the songs." Additionally, the Los Angeles Times called the album "a collection that should solidify her status as one of

7104-407: The artistic legacy of the historic Silk Road. Silk Road Chicago was a partnership among Silkroad, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and the Chicago Office of Tourism, Chicago Symphony Orchestra , and The Art Institute of Chicago . Rhiannon Giddens Rhiannon Giddens (born February 21, 1977) is an American musician known for her eclectic folk music . She is a founding member of

7215-458: The blind player Abing from Wuxi. Lin Shicheng (林石城; 1922–2006), born in Shanghai, began learning music under his father and was taught by Shen Haochu (沈浩初; 1899–1953), a leading player in the Pudong school style of pipa playing. He also qualified as a doctor of Chinese medicine. In 1956, after working for some years in Shanghai, Lin accepted a position at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Liu Dehai (1937–2020), also born in Shanghai,

7326-408: The bright new lights in pop music." In July 2015, she had a big stage at world music folk and dance festival at TFF Rudolstadt in Germany. Her performance was also broadcast live by the German national public radio Deutschlandfunk . Rhiannon appears on Jon Lindsay 's single "Ballad of Lennon Lacy" ( Redeye Distribution , August 21). The song tackles the mysterious hanging death of Lennon Lacy ,

7437-546: The city of Greensboro, North Carolina . Giddens' parents separated soon after her birth, when Deborah came out as a lesbian. Rhiannon and her sister Lalenja grew up in Greensboro and nearby rural Gibsonville . Lalenja Harrington is a director for Beyond Academics, a four-year certificate program supporting students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro . A singer and songwriter herself, Harrington occasionally collaborates with her sister on musical projects. Giddens

7548-402: The collection may be "Eagle Seizing a Crane" (海青挐鶴) which was mentioned in a Yuan dynasty text. Other collections from the Qing dynasty were compiled by Li Fangyuan (李芳園) and Ju Shilin (鞠士林), each representing different schools, and many of the pieces currently popular were described in these Qing collections. Further important collections were published in the 20th century. The pipa pieces in

7659-415: The common repertoire can be categorized as wen (文, civil) or wu (武, martial), and da (大, large or suite) or xiao (小, small). The wen style is more lyrical and slower in tempo, with softer dynamic and subtler colour, and such pieces typically describe love, sorrow, and scenes of nature. Pieces in the Wu style are generally more rhythmic and faster, and often depict scenes of battles and are played in

7770-491: The critically acclaimed CD "Eagle Seizing Swan" together. Noted contemporary pipa players who work internationally include Min Xiao-Fen , Zhou Yi , Qiu Xia He , Liu Fang , Cheng Yu , Jie Ma , Gao Hong , Yang Jing , Yang Wei (杨惟), Yang Jin (杨瑾), Guan Yadong (管亚东), Jiang Ting (蔣婷), Tang Liangxing (湯良興), and Lui Pui-Yuen (呂培原, brother of Lui Tsun-Yuen ). Some other notable pipa players in China include Yu Jia (俞嘉), Wu Yu Xia (吳玉霞), Fang Jinlong (方錦龍) and Zhao Cong (赵聪). In

7881-401: The current versions are based on Chinese pipa, including one with five-strings. The 5 String Pipa is tuned like a Standard Pipa with the addition of an Extra Bass String tuned to an E2 (Same as the Guitar) which broadens the range (Tuning is E2, A2, D3, E3, A3). Jiaju Shen from The Either also plays an Electric 5 String Pipa/Guitar hybrid that has the Hardware from an Electric Guitar combined with

7992-702: The early 1980s. Other prominent students of Lin Shicheng at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing include Liu Guilian (刘桂莲, born 1961), Gao Hong and Wu Man . Wu Man, probably the best known pipa player internationally, received the first-ever master's degree in pipa and won China's first National Academic Competition for Chinese Instruments. She lives in San Diego , California and works extensively with Chinese, cross-cultural, new music, and jazz groups. Shanghai-born Liu Guilian graduated from

8103-545: The early 20th century, twenty-five pieces were found amongst 10th-century manuscripts in the Mogao caves near Dunhuang , most of these pieces however may have originated from the Tang dynasty. The scores were written in tablature form with no information on tuning given, there are therefore uncertainties in the reconstruction of the music as well as deciphering other symbols in the score. Three Ming dynasty pieces were discovered in

8214-426: The early development of jazz during the post WWI era. In January 2018, Giddens co-produced (with Dirk Powell ) Songs of Our Native Daughters for Smithsonian Folkways . Written and recorded with fellow artists Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla , and Allison Russell, "The album confronts the ways we are culturally conditioned to avoid talking about America's history of slavery, racism, and misogyny." Also in early 2018,

8325-411: The early instrument had 4 frets (相, xiāng ) on the neck, but during the early Ming dynasty extra bamboo frets (品, pǐn) were affixed onto the soundboard , increasing the number of frets to around 10 and therefore the range of the instrument. The short neck of the Tang pipa also became more elongated. In the subsequent periods, the number of frets gradually increased, from around 10 to 14 or 16 during

8436-594: The electric pipa at the center of music. He was also the first musician to add a strap to the instrument, as he did for the zhongruan, allowing him to play the pipa and the zhongruan like a guitar. In 2014, an industrial designer residing in the United States Xi Zheng (郑玺) designed and crafted an electric pipa – "E-pa" in New York. In 2015, pipa player Jiaju Shen (沈嘉琚) released a mini album composed and produced by Li Zong (宗立), with E-pa music that has

8547-461: The family of pipa players founded by Cao Poluomen (曹婆羅門) and who were active for many generations from the Northern Wei to Tang dynasty. Texts from Tang dynasty mentioned many renowned pipa players such as He Huaizhi (賀懷智), Lei Haiqing (雷海清), Li Guaner (李管兒), and Pei Xingnu (裴興奴). Duan Anjie described the duel between the famous pipa player Kang Kunlun and the monk Duan Shanben (段善本) who

8658-449: The fingertips with the player's choice of elastic tape. However, false nails made of horn existed as early as the Ming period when finger-picking became the popular technique for playing pipa. The pipa is held in a vertical or near-vertical position during performance, although in the early periods the instrument was held in the horizontal position or near-horizontal with the neck pointing slightly downwards, or upside down. Starting about

8769-591: The first mass-produced edition of solo pieces for pipa, now commonly known as the Hua Collection (華氏譜). The collection was edited by Hua Qiuping (華秋萍, 1784–1859) and published in 1819 in three volumes. The first volume contains 13 pieces from the Northern school, the second and third volumes contain 54 pieces from the Southern school. Famous pieces such as " Ambushed from Ten Sides ", "The Warlord Takes Off His Armour", and "Flute and Drum at Sunset" were first described in this collection. The earliest-known piece in

8880-503: The five main schools associated with the solo tradition. Each school is associated with one or more collections of pipa music and named after its place of origin: These schools of the solo tradition emerged by students learning to play the pipa from their master, and each school has its own style, performance aesthetics, notation system, and may differ in their playing techniques. Different schools have different repertoire in their music collection, and even though these schools share many of

8991-461: The frets on all Chinese lutes are high so that the fingers and strings never touch the fingerboard in between the frets, this is different from many Western fretted instruments and allows for dramatic vibrato and other pitch changing effects. In addition, there are a number of techniques that produce sound effects rather than musical notes, for example, striking the board of the pipa for a percussive sound, or strings-twisting while playing that produces

9102-535: The historic Silk Road, including Iran, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, India, the Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. The Ensemble uses various instruments from the Silk Road region, including a pipa , a Chinese short-necked plucked lute; a duduk , an Armenian double reed woodwind; a Shakuhachi , a Japanese bamboo flute; and a morin khuur , a Mongolian horse head fiddle; among many others. The Silk Road Ensemble has recorded eight CDs. The group's 2009 CD Off

9213-522: The imperial court, perhaps a result of the influence of neo-Confucian nativism as pipa had foreign associations. However, it continued to be played as a folk instrument that also gained the interest of the literati. The pipa underwent a number of changes over the centuries. By the Ming dynasty , fingers replaced plectrum as the popular technique for playing pipa, although finger-playing techniques existed as early as Tang. Extra frets were added;

9324-400: The imperial orchestra for use in productions such as daqu (大曲, grand suites), an elaborate music and dance performance. During this time, Persian and Kuchan performers and teachers were in demand in the capital, Chang'an (which had a large Persian community). Some delicately carved pipa s with beautiful inlaid patterns date from this period, with particularly fine examples preserved in

9435-482: The index finger and thumb ( tan is striking with the index finger, tiao with the thumb). The fingers normally strike the strings of pipa in the opposite direction to the way a guitar is usually played, i.e. the fingers and thumb flick outward, unlike the guitar where the fingers and thumb normally pluck inward towards the palm of the hand. Plucking in the opposite direction to tan and tiao are called mo (抹) and gou (勾) respectively. When two strings are plucked at

9546-715: The late 20th century, largely through the efforts of Wu Man (in USA), Min Xiao-Fen (in USA), composer Yang Jing (in Europe) and other performers, Chinese and Western contemporary composers began to create new works for the pipa (both solo and in combination with chamber ensembles and orchestra). Most prominent among these are Minoru Miki , Thüring Bräm , YANG Jing , Terry Riley , Donald Reid Womack , Philip Glass , Lou Harrison , Tan Dun , Bright Sheng , Chen Yi , Zhou Long , Bun-Ching Lam , and Carl Stone . Cheng Yu researched

9657-598: The libretto and served as lead composer with help from co-composer Michael Abels . Owing to the COVID-19 pandemic , the world premiere of Omar was postponed until 2022. It received the 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In July 2020, Giddens was named Artistic Director of the cross-cultural music organization Silkroad (arts organization) . The position had been vacant since 2017 when Silkroad's founder, Yo-Yo Ma , stepped down. On August 17, 2020, Giddens guest-hosted

9768-442: The number of frets was increased to 24, based on the 12 tone equal temperament scale, with all the intervals being semitones. The traditional 16-fret pipa became less common, although it is still used in some regional styles such as the pipa in the southern genre of nanguan /nanyin. The horizontal playing position became the vertical (or near-vertical) position by the Qing dynasty, although in some regional genres such as nanguan

9879-686: The number of sections with free meter. The music collections from the 19th century also used the gongche notation which provides only a skeletal melody and approximate rhythms sometimes with the occasional playing instructions given (such as tremolo or string-bending), and how this basic framework can become fully fleshed out during a performance may only be learnt by the students from the master. The same piece of music can therefore differ significantly when performed by students of different schools, with striking differences in interpretation, phrasing , tempo , dynamics , playing techniques, and ornamentations . In more recent times, many pipa players, especially

9990-465: The old Tang dynasty five-stringed pipa in the early 2000s and developed a modern version of it for contemporary use. It is very much the same as the modern pipa in construction save for being a bit wider to allow for the extra string and the reintroduction of the soundholes at the front. It has not caught on in China but in Korea (where she also did some of her research) the bipa was revived since then and

10101-532: The only original member of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. In 2013, Giddens began pushing further into her solo career. Giddens participated in "Another Day, Another Time", a concert inspired by the Coen brothers film Inside Llewyn Davis . Many critics have stated that Giddens had the best performance at what was called "the concert of the year". Late in 2013, Giddens contributed the standout

10212-745: The outset of a renewed five-year affiliation with the University, designed to enable new artistic and cultural opportunities at Harvard and in surrounding communities. Silkroad has been affiliated with both Harvard University and the Rhode Island School of Design in the USA, where the Silk Road Ensemble engaged with faculty and students in annual residencies. Silkroad's partnership with the Rhode Island School of Design took place from 2005 through 2010. As part of Silkroad programming,

10323-608: The past." Rhiannon further demonstrated the broad range of her musical interests with several subsequent projects. In early November, she performed as a soprano with the Louisville Orchestra in Teddy Abrams ' multimedia tribute to Muhammad Ali , The Greatest . A week later, she sang with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra for their live recording of American Originals: 1918 , which explored

10434-445: The pipa is still held guitar fashion. During the 1950s, the use of metal strings in place of the traditional silk ones also resulted in a change in the sound of the pipa which became brighter and stronger. Early literary tradition in China, for example in a 3rd-century description by Fu Xuan , Ode to Pipa , associates the Han pipa with the northern frontier, Wang Zhaojun and other princesses who were married to nomad rulers of

10545-429: The playback of these direct-to-disc recordings, she exclaimed "you feel like your soul is coming out of the speaker." In October 2017, Giddens was named one of the 2017 class of MacArthur "Genius" Fellows . The organization noted, "Giddens's drive to understand and convey the nuances, complexities, and interrelationships between musical traditions is enhancing our musical present with a wealth of sounds and textures from

10656-499: The programming lineup at Wondrium leading the series "The Banjo: Music, History and Heritage." In 2022, Giddens was named the musical director of the 2023 Ojai Music Festival . On 7th July 2024, Giddens and her band headlined the Gate to Southwell Festival. In 2017 and 2018, Giddens appeared in the fifth and sixth seasons of the CMT 's Nashville as Hannah Lee "Hallie" Jordan,

10767-413: The same pieces in their repertoire, a same piece of music from the different schools may differ in their content. For example, a piece like "The Warlord Takes off His Armour" is made up of many sections, some of them metered and some with free meter , and greater freedom in interpretation is possible in the free meter sections. Different schools however can have sections added or removed, and may differ in

10878-403: The same time with the index finger and thumb (i.e. the finger and thumb separate in one action), it is called fen (分), the reverse motion is called zhi (摭). A rapid strum is called sao (掃), and strumming in the reverse direction is called fu (拂). A distinctive sound of pipa is the tremolo produced by the lunzhi (輪指) technique which involves all the fingers and thumb of the right hand. It

10989-511: The short-necked lute, as well as the differing accounts given in these ancient texts. Traditional Chinese narrative prefers the story of the Han Chinese Princess Liu Xijun sent to marry a barbarian Wusun king during the Han dynasty , with the pipa being invented so she could play music on horseback to soothe her longings. Modern researchers such as Laurence Picken , Shigeo Kishibe , and John Myers suggested

11100-510: The time she was done, she had systematically dismantled the myth of a homogenous Appalachia." In June 2017, Giddens appeared in the multi award-winning documentary The American Epic Sessions , directed by Bernard MacMahon , where she recorded "One Hour Mama" and English folk ballad " Pretty Saro ", on the restored first electrical sound recording system from the 1920s. Both performances were released on Music from The American Epic Sessions: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack . Upon hearing

11211-534: The title of a poem), and in paintings where she is often depicted holding a pipa. There are many references to pipa in Tang literary works, for example, in A Music Conservatory Miscellany Duan Anjie related many anecdotes associated with pipa. The pipa is mentioned frequently in the Tang dynasty poetry , where it is often praised for its expressiveness, refinement and delicacy of tone, with poems dedicated to well-known players describing their performances. A famous poem by Bai Juyi , " Pipa xing " (琵琶行), contains

11322-466: The two theories however are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Liu Xi also stated that the instrument called pipa , though written differently ( 枇杷 ; pípá or 批把 ; pībǎ ) in the earliest texts, originated from amongst the Hu people (a general term for non-Han people living to the north and west of ancient China). Another Han dynasty text, Fengsu Tongyi , also indicates that, at that time, pipa

11433-432: The younger ones, no longer identify themselves with any specific school. Modern notation systems, new compositions as well as recordings are now widely available and it is no longer crucial for a pipa players to learn from the master of any particular school to know how to play a score. Pipa is commonly associated with Princess Liu Xijun and Wang Zhaojun of the Han dynasty, although the form of pipa they played in that period

11544-537: Was a recent arrival, although later 3rd-century texts from the Jin dynasty suggest that pipa existed in China as early as the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC). An instrument called xiantao (弦鼗), made by stretching strings over a small drum with handle, was said to have been played by labourers who constructed the Great Wall of China during the late Qin dynasty. This may have given rise to the Qin pipa , an instrument with

11655-612: Was a student of Lin Shicheng and in 1961 graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Liu also studied with other musicians and has developed a style that combines elements from several different schools. Ye Xuran (叶绪然), a student of Lin Shicheng and Wei Zhongle, was the Pipa Professor at the first Musical Conservatory of China, the Shanghai Conservatory of Music . He premiered the oldest Dunhuang Pipa Manuscript (the first interpretation made by Ye Dong) in Shanghai in

11766-603: Was announced that Giddens and the Carolina Chocolate Drops would be inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame . In 2017, Giddens became only the fourth musician to perform at both the Newport Folk and Jazz Festivals. Later that year, she delivered the keynote address at the World of Bluegrass Business Conference 2017. According to Bluegrass Today, "Giddens shattered long-held stereotypes...By

11877-478: Was disguised as a girl, and told the story of Yang Zhi (楊志) who learned how to play the pipa secretly by listening to his aunt playing at night. Celebrated performers of the Tang dynasty included three generations of the Cao family—Cao Bao (曹保), Cao Shancai (曹善才) and Cao Gang (曹剛), whose performances were noted in literary works. During the Song dynasty, players mentioned in literary texts include Du Bin (杜彬). From

11988-651: Was featured on Austin City Limits . Later in 2016, Giddens became the first American to be honored as Folk Singer of the Year at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards , and it was announced that she would be receiving the prestigious Steve Martin Prize for Excellence in Banjo and Bluegrass . Winning this award makes Giddens both the only woman and the only person of color to receive the prize in its six-year history. Also in 2016, it

12099-656: Was first developed in the late 20th century by adding electric guitar –style magnetic pickups to a regular acoustic pipa, allowing the instrument to be amplified through an instrument amplifier or PA system . A number of Western pipa players have experimented with amplified pipa. Brian Grimm placed the contact mic pickup on the face of the pipa and wedged under the bridge so he is able to plug into pedalboards, live computer performance rigs, and direct input (DI) to an audio interface for studio tracking. In 2014, French zhongruan player and composer Djang San , created his own electric pipa and recorded an experimental album that puts

12210-399: Was known for pioneering finger-playing techniques, while Sujiva was noted for the "Seven modes and seven tones", a musical modal theory from India. (The heptatonic scale was used for a time afterwards in the imperial court due to Sujiva's influence until it was later abandoned). These players had considerable influence on the development of pipa playing in China. Of particular fame were

12321-570: Was written with Daniel Lanois . In December 2018, she began hosting a podcast called Aria Code with Rhiannon Giddens produced by the Metropolitan Opera and WQXR-FM . The program examines why individual arias have a lasting impact on audiences and how singers prepare to perform them. In 2019, Giddens released two studio albums: Songs of Our Native Daughters with Allison Russell , Leyla McCalla and Amythyst Kiah, and There Is No Other with Italian musician Francesco Turrisi. For

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