Gao Hong, a 2025 Transglobal World Music Hall of Fame inductee, is a pipa master, composer, educator, and improviser. She graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music, where she studied with renowned pipa (Chinese lute) master Lin Shicheng. Since coming to the U.S., she has performed at numerous prestigious venues and festivals throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and South America, including the Lincoln Center Festival, Carnegie Hall, San Francisco Jazz Festival, New Wave Festival, the Smithsonian, Teatro Colón, and festivals in Paris, Caen, Milan, Perth, Lisbon, Zaragoza, and Ronda, Spain. She has performed pipa concerti with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, South Netherlands Philharmonic (Philzuid), Heidelberg Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Women’s Philharmonic, Hawaii Symphony, Maryland Symphony, Anchorage Symphony, and many others.

Gao has received numerous top awards and honors, including a prestigious Bush Artist Fellowship, five McKnight Artist Fellowships for Performing Musicians, a Sorel Medallion in Recording (NYC), a Sally Award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, and many other grants and fellowships. St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter proclaimed April 3, 2022, as “Gao Hong Day” in honor of her milestone concert at the Ordway Center. She is also the author of the first pipa method book written in English, published and distributed worldwide by Hal Leonard.

As a composer, Gao’s commissions include works for the Minnesota Orchestra, The President’s Own United States Marine Band, American Composers Forum, Minnesota Sinfonia, LADYBAND’s 45-partner consortium commission, Newfound Chamber Winds, and the University of Texas Wind Ensemble with Maestro Jerry Junkin, among others. In December 2024, Gao recorded four pipa concerti that she composed and orchestrated with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios in London. Her latest album, Symphony of Self, released on January 23, 2026, by Naxos World, has won two Gold Medals from the Global Music Awards for Best Composition/Composer and Instrumentalist. Her previous albums, featuring collaborations with a flamenco guitarist, kora player, oudist, sitarist, and guqin player, have collectively won a total of thirteen Gold Medals and received international acclaim. She was also the first Chinese musician to perform the National Anthem on pipa at an NBA game, appearing with the Minnesota Timberwolves in Minneapolis.

Gao has served as a board member of the American Composers Forum and Minnesota Citizens for the Arts, and as a Governor of the Recording Academy’s Chicago Chapter. She currently teaches at Carleton College, where she directs the Chinese Music Ensemble, and also serves as a guest professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, China Conservatory, Tianjin Conservatory, and other institutions in China.

China's foremost music publication, People's Music, wrote of Gao Hong that "like the famous Luoyang peony, she has gradually emerged as the best of all beautiful flowers...her performance has extremely strong artistic appeal and belongs under the category of 'fine wine'...the more you listen, the more beautiful it gets..."

“For over 50 years, Gao Hong’s music has inspired and moved countless people around the globe. As one of the premier pipa players in the world, her illustrious career is filled with accomplishments as a musician, composer, and educator.”
– Amy Klobuchar, United States Senator

Biography

Gao Hong’s musical journey began under extraordinary circumstances. As a young girl in a provincial song and dance troupe in north-central China, she was nicknamed the “little black kitten,” often practicing the pipa for hours before dawn in a furnace room, her face dusted with coal soot. At just 12 years old, she had already left her family in Luoyang to pursue a professional career, navigating both artistic ambition and personal hardship during the Cultural Revolution. Despite the challenges, she remained deeply committed to music, later continuing her studies at an arts school before earning admission—after highly competitive examinations—to China’s premier institution, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with the legendary pipa master Lin Shicheng. After completing her degree, Gao became a soloist with the Beijing Song and Dance Troupe, touring extensively throughout China and internationally. A pivotal moment came during a tour to Tokyo, where she was invited to return as a solo artist, launching her international career.

Gao made her U.S. debut in 1994 with a ten-city tour, followed by numerous international performances, including collaborations with her mentor Lin Shicheng. Their partnership resulted in the acclaimed recording Hunting Eagles Catching Swans and landmark performances in Beijing, Honolulu, Seattle, and Minnesota. Her artistry was praised by China’s leading music publication, People’s Music, which described her as “like the famous Luoyang peony… the more you listen, the more beautiful it becomes.”

Renowned for expanding the expressive possibilities of the pipa, Gao Hong has brought the instrument into diverse musical contexts, performing with symphony orchestras, jazz artists, and musicians from cultures around the world. She has appeared at major venues and festivals including Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center Festival, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, the Smithsonian Institution, and international festivals in Paris, Milan, Perth, and beyond.

As a concerto soloist, she has performed with leading ensembles including the Minnesota Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Heidelberg Philharmonic, Buenos Aires Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra, Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, Hawaii Symphony, and many others across Asia, Europe, and the Americas. In 2017, she became the first Chinese musician to perform the U.S. National Anthem on the pipa at an NBA game for the Minnesota Timberwolves.

In 2025, Gao Hong was inducted into the Transglobal World Music Hall of Fame. Her recent performances with the South Netherlands Philharmonic gained widespread international attention, with videos reaching over 700 million views across global platforms. In 2024, she received the International Cultural Role Model Award from the United Nations World Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Foundation and was featured on postage stamps in four countries. Her bilingual children’s book, The Chirps in Gao Hong’s Pipa, inspired by her childhood, was also published that year.

An award-winning recording artist, Gao Hong has received six consecutive Gold Medals from the Global Music Awards. Her collaborations span cultures and traditions, including projects with Lin Shicheng, Issam Rafea, Kadialy Kouyate, Ignacio Lusardi Monteverde, Zhao Xiaoxia, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestr. Her work has been featured by NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest Top Shelf.

As a composer, Gao Hong has received commissions from numerous distinguished organizations, including the Minnesota Orchestra, “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, American Composers Forum, University of Texas Wind Ensemble, Newfound Chamber Winds, LADYBAND, Minnesota Sinfonia, Minneapolis Pops Orchestra, Kenwood Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Guitar Quartet, Walker Art Center, Zeitgeist, Ragamala Dance Theater, Theater Mu, the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, and TPT-PBS, among others. My music has been performed at major conferences and venues, including the ABA, CBDNA National Conference, Midwest Clinic, TMEA, GMEA, ILMEA, OMEA, Carnegie Hall, the National Centre for the Performing Arts in China, Beijing Concert Hall, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, and in performances throughout Taiwan, Canada, Europe, Asia, and worldwide.

A dedicated educator, Gao Hong is currently teaching Chinese Musical Instruments at Carleton College where she also directs the Carleton Chinese Music Ensemble. 2016, Gao Hong completed the first pipa method book ever written in English and had it published by Hal Leonard. She is also Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music, China Conservatory of Music, Tianjin Conservatory of Music, and Hebei Provincial School for the Arts in China. She has presented educational programs and lectures at hundreds of colleges and universities since 1994. She also taught K-12 students nationwide for 32 years through the Minnesota State Arts Board, SPCO CONNECT Program, Young Audiences, IFTPA, and others.

Gao Hong is an active leader in the arts community, serving with the American Composers Forum, the Recording Academy (Chicago/Midwest Chapter), and Minnesota Citizens for the Arts. She is a voting member of the Grammy Awards and a member of multiple national arts committees.

Her contributions have been widely recognized, including a Bush Artist Fellowship, five McKnight Artist Fellowships, and the Sally Award from the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. In 2022, the City of St. Paul proclaimed April 3 as “Gao Hong Day” in honor of her lifelong contributions to music.

“For over 50 years, Gao Hong’s music has inspired and moved countless people around the globe. As one of the premier pipa players in the world, her illustrious career is marked by extraordinary achievements as a performer, composer, and educator.” – Amy Klobuchar, United States Senator