Lu Xiaozi

China

Guqin & Guzheng Examiner

Lu Xiaozi is a young Guqin instructor in the Department of Traditional Chinese Music at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Guqin performance. She serves as Executive Council Member of the Guqin Professional Committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society, Secretary-General of the Shanghai Guqin Society, a recipient of the Shanghai Young Talent Award for Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritance, and Deputy Director of the Lingran Yincheng Guqin Ensemble of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.

Lu began her musical training in 1999 when she was admitted to the Primary School Affiliated to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as a Guzheng major, studying under Professor Sun Wenyan. From 2000, she continued her Guzheng studies with the renowned virtuoso Professor Wang Wei. In 2003, she commenced Guqin studies with the distinguished Guangling School master Professor Dai Xiaolian, under whom she continues to study and from whom she has received the authentic artistic lineage of the Guangling tradition. In 2008, she was admitted to the Department of Traditional Chinese Music at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music as a dual major in both Guqin and Guzheng. She graduated with a Master's degree in Guqin Performance in 2016. During her studies, she also received guidance from several eminent Guqin masters, including Lin Youren, Cheng Gongliang and Zeng Chengwei.

In recent years, Lu has established herself as an active soloist on concert stages both in China and abroad. In November 2020, she presented her solo recital Landscape China – Traditional and Contemporary Works of the Guangling School at the Shanghai Symphony Hall. In June 2019, she appeared in the Martha Argerich Festival and Friends concert presented by the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra in Germany. She gave a number of solo recitals at the Shanghai Oriental Art Center in 2017 and 2018. Since 2018, she has been a featured performer in the concert series Listening to the Guqin – The Guqin Tells China's Stories. Since 2016, she has performed as both Guqin and Guzheng soloist in Everlasting Friendship – Fang Qiong's Concert of Classical Chinese Poetry Songs. In 2010, she was featured as the Guqin soloist in Martial Arts Trilogy – Hero Concerto, composed by Tan Dun. To date, she has given the world premieres of numerous contemporary works for the Guqin.

In 2016, Lu was awarded First Prize (Professional Youth Category A) at the inaugural Dunhuang Cup Chinese Guqin Art Exhibition and Performance Competition. Her recordings include the solo Guqin albums Xin Lai, Xiaokan Qinxiao (a collaborative album with Wang Junkan featuring traditional and contemporary works for Qin and Xiao), and Village Snow: Night Reflections, an album of newly composed works for Guqin. She has also performed on Guqin and Guzheng for Kunqu artist Zhang Jun's recording New Tunes in Shuimo Style.