Min Xiao-Fen
{{Short description|Chinese-American pipa player and singer}}
{{family name hatnote|Min|lang=Chinese}}
Min Xiao-Fen ({{zh|t=閔小芬|s=闵小芬|p=Mǐn Xiǎofēn}}) is a Chinese and American pipa player, vocalist, and composer known for her work in traditional Chinese music, contemporary classical music, and jazz.
Life
Min Xiao-Fen studied with her father, Min Jiqian (闵季骞), a music professor at Nanjing University and a student of the erhu master Liu Tianhua. Her eldest sister, Min Huifen, was nicknamed the "Queen of Erhu." Her brother, Min Lekang (闵乐康), is a national first-class conductor and music professor.{{cite news |url=http://news.sohu.com/20140513/n399471636.shtml |title=二胡演奏大师闵惠芬因脑溢血去世 |date=13 May 2014 |work=Sohu |language=zh}}
Min performed as a pipa soloist for the Nanjing National Music Orchestra from 1980 to 1992. She emigrated to the United States in 1992, first settling in San Francisco, California.Michael Heffley, [https://www.academia.edu/2352693/Min_Xiao-Fen "Interview with Min Xiao-Fen"] (2009)
She has worked with numerous contemporary composers, including Chen Yi, Zhou Long, Carl Stone, Anthony De Ritis, Marc Battier, and John Zorn. She has worked with the jazz saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and in 2021 with Jazz guitarist Rez Abbasi on her album White Lotus.NPR [https://www.npr.org/2021/07/03/1012832047/the-traditional-chinese-pipa-meets-guitar-in-min-xiao-fens-white-lotus "The Traditional Chinese Pipa Meets Guitar In Min Xiao-Fen's 'White Lotus'"] (2021) Min worked with Björk on the song "I See Who You Are" on Björk's album Volta, released on May 7, 2007.
Min lives in New York.Horowitz, Joseph. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9405E7DA133DF930A35750C0A9639C8B63 "The Musical Odyssey of Min Xiao-Fen"], The New York Times, March 3, 2005. Accessed June 18, 2009. "Ms. Min moved to New York in 1996. (She now lives in Forest Hills.)" She is also a founder of Blue Pipa, Inc.
Discography
- Mao, Monk and Me (2017, Blue Pipa)
- Dim Sum (2012, Blue Pipa)
- The Art of Improvisation (2005, Mutable Music) with Leroy Jenkins's Driftwood
- Min Xiao-Fen with Six Composers (1998, Avant)
- Viper – Derek Bailey and Min Xiao-Fen (1998, Avant)
- Spring, River, Flower, Moon, Night (1997, Asphodel)
- The Moon Rising (1996, Cala)
- Socket (Amulet)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{official website|http://minbluepipa.com/}}
- {{YouTube|channel=UC4FU9wNJSlsu1FitDhSZ1ig}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20081119091906/http://www.globalrhythm.net/WorldMusicFeatures/MinXiao-Fen.cfm Min Xiao-Fen interview] from Global Rhythm magazine, August 2008.
- [http://www.wnyc.org/story/46315-ear-to-ear-min-xiao-fen/ Min Xiao-Fen radio program]
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Category:21st-century classical composers
Category:American women singers
Category:Chinese women singers
Category:People from Forest Hills, Queens
Category:Singers from New York (state)
Category:Chinese classical composers
Category:Chinese women classical composers