Wu Man, pipa

The Composers Conference Ensemble: Rachel Rudich, flute; Marcia Butler, oboe; Marianne Gythfeldt, clarinet; Lester Cantor, bassoon; Ronald Anderson, trumpet; Paul Basler, horn; Robert Wigness, trombone; Rolf Schulte, violin; Betty Hauck, viola; Michael Finckel, cello; Donald Palma, contra bass; Stephen Paysen, percussion; Dominic Donato, percussion; Randall Hodgkinson, piano; Efrain Guigui, Conductor

Barbara Siesel, flute; Victoria Drake, harp

Music From China: Gwendolyn Mok, piano; Wu Man, zheng; Erik Charlston, percussion

Speculum Musicae: Elizabeth Brown, flute; Allen Blustine, clarinet; Cyrus Stevens, violin; Eric Bartlett, cello; Victor Kioulaphides, double bass; Frank Cassara, percussion; Christopher Oldfather, piano; Donald Palma, Conductor


Zhou Long was born in 1953 in Beijing, China. As a youth, he received the artistic influence of his parents who painted and taught vocal music. Though he began piano lessons at a young age, he was unable to escape the fate of most of his generation in China whose education was halted during the Cultural Revolution. He was sent to a state farm in a remote area where the natural scene—roaring winds and fierce land fires—made a profound impression on him. It was music which helped him to survive the difficult life. In 1973, Zhou restarted his musical training, studying composition, music theory, and conducting as well as Chinese music. When the school system was resumed in 1977, Zhou enrolled in the exclusive Central Conservatory in Beijing to study composition under Su Xia. After graduation in 1983, he was appointed the composer-in-residence with the Broadcasting Symphony of China. Zhou came to the United States in 1985 under a fellowship to attend Columbia University. There he studied composition with Chou Wen-chung, Mario Davidovsky and George Edwards and received his doctorate in 1993...

Though Zhou Long considered his compositional profile to be well established before his arrival in the U.S., his techniques and means of expression have since undergone many changes. He is now concerned primarily with a merging of Eastern and Western cultures through music. That has meant, specifically, the combining of ancient Chinese musical traditions and free atonal composition into a coherent and personal statement. Zhou has compared his integration of Western musical theory into his essentially Chinese compositions to the accretion of Buddhist principals into Chinese culture during the Tang dynasty. Buddhist thought itself has been a direct influence in a number of his works including Wu Ji, Ding and Dhyana.


This title, originally issued on the CRI label, is now available as a burn-on-demand CD (CD-R) or download in MP3/320, FLAC or WAV formats. CD-Rs come in a protective sleeve; no print booklet or jewel case included. Liner notes are accessible via the link above.