Cheng Yu is a Chinese musician, known as a performer of the

pipa The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () 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 ran ...

, a Chinese four-stringed lute, She gained a

BMus Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

in China and an MMus in the United Kingdom. She completed her

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper ''Piled Higher and Deeper'' (also known as ''PhD Comics''), is a newsp ...

studies at the

School of Oriental and African Studies SOAS University of London (; the School of Oriental and African Studies) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury are ...

(SOAS) in London on Ancient

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by #Name, other names, is the list of capitals in China, capital of Shaanxi, Shaanxi Province. A Sub-provincial division#Sub-provincial municipalities, sub-provincial city o ...

Music. She plays, records and researches on traditional and contemporary Chinese music as well as cross-cultural music collaborations in the UK, Europe and other places. In 2005, she re-created a modern version of the lost

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdo ...

five-stringed pipa, based on the study of old Tang dynasty ''pipa''s and lutes from the East Asian cultures. She is one of the founding members of the

UK Chinese Ensemble The UK Chinese Ensemble is a Chinese music ensemble that was founded in 1994 by Chinese virtuosi resident in Britain. The ensemble seeks to promote a wide variety of traditional repertoires as well as exploring contemporary styles. In addition ...

(established in 1998) and of the

London Youlan Qin Society The London Youlan Qin Society (; often abbreviated to LYQS) is a London-based qin society serving guqin players in the UK. Of the three major qin societies of the West (the other two being the North American Guqin Association and the New York Qi ...

(inaugurated in 2003).

Biography

Cheng Yu was born in Beijing, but grew up in

Gansu Province Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibet ...

in Northwest China when her family was exiled during the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated go ...

. She studied the southern Pudong style of pipa with her father from the age of seven and was further trained by pipa masters in the north-western Pinghu style later. She also studied and graduated with distinction in the

Conservatory of Music in 1987 for the guqin. She won the "outstanding pipa player" award in China in the same year she was selected as a pipa soloist in the China Central Orchestra of Chinese Music in Beijing.

Collaborations and projects

Asian Music Circuit The Asian Music Circuit (AMC) is a UK-based organisation based which produces tours and concerts internationally, holds educational and outreach events in the UK and works generally to promote the music of Asia. Registered in Hemel Hempstead, its ...

: Chinese Music Summer School from 2003 *

ARC Music ARC Music is a world music and folk music label based in West Sussex, England, that was established in 1976. Naxos acquired ARC in 2019. Film and television ARC Music has been used in the films '' Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Cryst ...

*SOAS *Music House *Zomba *Extreme Music *Realworld *

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (; born 23 March 1968) is an English-Icelandic musician, singer-songwriter and composer, best known as the frontman and primary lyricist of the rock band Blur and as the co-creator and primary musical contributor of the virtual ...

*'' Monkey: Journey to the West'' *

Tan Dun Tan Dun (, ; born 18 August 1957) is a Chinese-born American composer and conductor. A leading figure of contemporary classical music, he draws from a variety of Western and Chinese influences, a dichotomy which has shaped much of his life and ...

* Chen Yi *

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Karl Jenkins Sir Karl William Pamp Jenkins (born 17 February 1944) is a Welsh multi-instrumentalist and composer. His best known works include the song "Adiemus" and the ''Adiemus'' album series; ''Palladio''; ''The Armed Man''; and his ''Requiem''. Jen ...

* Trevor Jones * Fabien Tehericsen *

London Sinfonietta The London Sinfonietta is an English contemporary chamber orchestra founded in 1968 and based in London. The ensemble has headquarters at Kings Place and is Resident Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. Since its inaugural concert in 1968—gi ...

1996 *

Lyon Ensemble Orchestral Contemporian Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of th ...

2000-01 * Avignon Orchestra 2003 *

Edinburgh String Quartet Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

2004 *Youth Music: Faber Music Songbook 2005 *

Jan Kuiper Theodorus "Dorus" Rijkers (27 January 1847 – 19 April 1928) was a famous Dutch lifeboat captain and folk hero, most famous for his sea rescues of 487 shipwrecked victims over a total of 38 rescue operations, and at least 25 before joining the l ...

Purbayan Chatterjee Purbayan Chatterjee (born in Kolkata on 12th September 1976) is an Indian sitar maestro who lives in Mumbai, India. He is noted for amalgamating traditional Indian classical music with contemporary world music genres. Early life and career ...

* Zoumana Kiarra * Jan Hendrickse * Tim Garside *

Stephen Dydo Stephen or Steven is a common English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to deat ...

* Gillian Carcas * Gyewon Byeon

References

External links

Cheng Yu
Information on the website of the UK Chinese Ensemble Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Alumni of SOAS University of London Chinese emigrants to England People's Republic of China musicians Pipa players Place of birth missing (living people) Musicians from Beijing {{China-musician-stub