Tu Shan Xiang has been playing the pipa (a four-string plucked instrument from China) since 1970. In 1989, he graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music and then continued his musical studies at the Tokyo University of the Arts where he completed his master’s degree. Mr. Tu is now based in Japan and tours extensively internationally. His notable accomplishments include being the first pipa player to perform in New York’s Carnegie Hall and being the music director of the 2005 World Expo in Japan.

The year 2010 marked Mr. Tu’s 40th year of music-making. In celebration, he went on a world tour performing in many world-class concert halls including the National Center for Performing Arts in Beijing.

In the summer of 2014, he gave a special performance of his music in Nagoya, Japan, with erhu soloist George Gao, violinist Mira Khomik Anderson, tenor Bao Jin Zhong, soprano Sakura To, and erhu soloist Kevein Gao - all accompanied by members of Symphony Irvine and the orchestras of La Sierra University and UCLA under the baton of Artistic Director Dean Anderson.

Not only is Mr. Tu an innovative pipa player, but he is a composer whose work has inspired many up-and-coming young musicians, as well.