杨靖 Yang Jing
- Paul Easton
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
杨靖 Yang Jing, known for her unparalleled singing tone, is a renowned pipa virtuoso, educator, and chamber musician. Her pipa performance pursues the simple beauty of nature, strives for unity of form and spirit, and balances strength and softness. With comprehensive technique and rich tonal variety, her interpretations of both traditional repertoire and contemporary works carry strong artistic vitality and emotional resonance. She is hailed as "the most theatrically charismatic outstanding pipa performer of the contemporary era."
She began learning the liuqin (small Chinese lute) and pipa at age six under her father, Liu Shiben. In 1977, she was admitted to the Affiliated Secondary School of Wuhan Conservatory of Music, studying under Professors Zhou Qian and Fang Bingyun. In 1982, she enrolled at the China Conservatory of Music, studying under Professor 刘德海 Liu Dehai, the iconic contemporary pipa master. She received her Bachelor's degree in 1986 and her Master's degree in 1988. She also received instruction and guidance from Mr. Zhang Pingshen (Wang School of Pipa) and Mr. Yang Dajun (Pinghu School of Pipa).
As a renowned pipa soloist long active on stages both in China and abroad, she has won numerous top awards at national pipa competitions, and received the title of “Outstanding Chinese Folk Music Performer” at the 7th Huayue Forum Xinyi Cup. She has been invited to perform in over fifty countries and regions, appearing at major music festivals on every continent around the globe.
She has performed as soloist with many internationally renowned symphony orchestras and Chinese orchestras, including: the Houston Chamber Orchestra (USA), Berlin New Music Ensemble (Germany), Johannesburg National Symphony Orchestra (South Africa), Russian National Symphony Orchestra, St. Petersburg Tauride Symphony Orchestra, Russian State Academic Andreyev Folk Orchestra, Russian State Academic Zykina Folk Orchestra, Latvian Amber Chamber Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, China National Symphony Orchestra, China Central Chinese Orchestra, China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Taipei Chinese Orchestra, and Taiwan Experimental Chinese Orchestra.
Since the 1980s, Yang Jing has been at the forefront of innovation in Chinese national chamber music. She joined the Chinese Women's Plucked-String Orchestra founded by Liu Dehai in 1985, and founded the Yang Jing Pipa Chamber Orchestra (2006) and the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra (2008).
Through new artistic vision advanced by her two chamber ensembles, she has explored how traditional Chinese musical culture can be expressed in contemporary chamber music forms that transcend regional and temporal boundaries. Her pioneering achievements in driving the innovative development of Chinese national chamber music have earned her high acclaim from the global music community and the affection of audiences worldwide.
She has transcribed, arranged, and commissioned over twenty works for pipa chamber orchestra. The Yang Jing Pipa Chamber Orchestra and Pinyi Pipa Chamber Orchestra (named in association with her) have won top prizes at multiple national and provincial-level competitions and chamber music showcases.
In 2023, she published China's first all-media pipa chamber music textbook, Chinese Pipa Chamber Music Tutorial, establishing a new teaching model for pipa major education. By integrating training in solo performance, chamber ensemble, and orchestral playing, it charts a new path for cultivating professional pipa performers with comprehensive artistic abilities. In 2024, she released the digital album Selected Chamber Music Works of Yang Jing.
As a pipa educator and discipline leader, Yang Jing has dedicated decades to the cultivation of talent, textbook development, stage practice, music creation, instrument research, and publishing. Dozens of her students have won major awards at national pipa solo competitions, and many have gone on to become faculty at leading music conservatories and principal performers in major Chinese orchestras at home and abroad.
The Chinese Instrumental Performance (Pipa) core curriculum she established, featuring a dual teaching model of traditional solo instruction and pipa chamber music, was recognized by the Ministry of Education as a National First-Class Undergraduate Course in 2023. Her pipa chamber music training program was the first successful case of its kind to be formally integrated into the instrumental teaching curriculum system of Chinese music conservatories.
Drawing on her immense experience performing and teaching, Yang Jing is also actively engaged in academic research. Her scholarly papers include:
Inspiration from Wandering Thoughts on the Qin Sea — Academic Reflections on Liu Dehai Music Art Week
The Rational Grasp and Recreation of Pipa Performance
Notes on Pipa Sound and Technique
A Preliminary Discussion on Liu Dehai's Pipa Teaching Philosophy
Exploring the Relationship Between the Whole and the Part in Pipa Performance
Embracing a Pillow, Dreaming of the Pipa at Night — Deeply Mourning My Teacher Mr. Liu Dehai
The Construction Philosophy and Teaching Practice of the Pipa Chamber Music Course at the China Conservatory of Music
She served as associate editor of the Grand Compendium of Chinese Music (Pipa Volume), a national key book publishing project of the 12th Five-Year Plan.
She has planned and hosted national academic exchange events including the Liu Dehai Music Art Week, and edited and published books such as Liu Dehai Commemorative Collected Essays and Complete Pipa Works of Liu Dehai (Staff Notation Edition), as well as concert recordings including Hymn of Harmony, Liu Dehai Music Art Week Concert Series and Nongyun , Bass Pipa Original Works Concert.
Starting in 2004, Yang Jing begun a collaboration with pipa-making master Man Ruixing, renowned pipa maker Cao Weidong, and Yuehai Musical Instruments Co., Ltd. to develop and improve the bass pipa and soprano pipa, both of which received national patent certification, with the bass pipa winning a Science and Technology Progress Award. She has also incorporated the ancient nanyin pipa, as well as reconstructed Tang-dynasty five-string and four-string pipas, into chamber orchestra performance and teaching.
Yang Jing is currently a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the China Conservatory of Music; Master's Supervisor at Jilin University of the Arts; Visiting Professor at Xinghai Conservatory of Music; Chair of the Artistic Committee of the Liu Dehai Art Special Fund under the China National Culture and Art Foundation; Vice President of the Pipa Society of the Chinese Musicians Association; Executive Vice President of the Pipa Professional Committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society; Beijing Municipal Key Academic Discipline Leader for Higher Education; National Professional Skills Assessment Review Committee Member; Director of the Forbidden City Chamber Orchestra; Music Director of the Yang Jing Pipa Chamber Orchestra; Signed Artist of Yuehai Musical Instruments.
Photos from: https://www.huain.com/news/pipa/2023/1008/5421.html
Biography from: https://www.concerthall.com.cn/newpage.php?id=11144
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