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After arriving in the United States in 1992, she began working with
composers Zhou Long, Carl Stone and Chen Yi, then recorded
The Moon Rising
(Cala), hailed
by BBC Music Magazine as "one of the best CDs of 1996," and
Spring, River, Flower, Moon, Night
(Asphodel), a
brilliant solo set of traditional repertoire.
Adventure and exploration have always been a hallmark of this great
artist's work, and Min has received high acclaim for her classical, new
music and jazz performances. She was featured soloist with the New York
City Opera, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the vocal ensemble Chanticleer, the
San Diego Symphony and the Pacific Symphony Orchestra, among others. She
has performed solo concerts at the Vienna Music Festival, the Utrecht
International Lute Festival, the Geneva Music Festival, the Berlin Chinese
Music Festival, the New York Guitar Festival and at various jazz festivals
in Paris, Quebec and Jakarta.
In 1998, Min premiered Tan Dun's Peony Pavilion
(Sony), an
opera with director Peter Sellars. Viper
(Avant), a
recording of improvisations with Derek Bailey, was one of The Wire
Magazine's "1998 Albums of the Year," and she released
Min Xiao-Fen with Six Composers
(Avant)
in 1999, an exciting solo album of modern works. She was featured on
Shaolin Ulysses and The Port of Last Resort
(both Tzadik),
two movie soundtracks composed by John Zorn, and composed "The Shang." A
duet with pianist Randy Weston, recorded Khepera
(Verve), then
toured the project worldwide.
Min performed a pair of Philip Glass's chamber operas, "The Sound of a
Voice" and "Hotel of Dreams," at the Court Theater in Chicago in 2003.
Later that year, she was invited to play a solo set of Thelonius Monk’s
music by Jazz at Lincoln Center.
In 2004, her piece "The Loneliest Monk" was commissioned and played by
Kitchen House Blend at the Kitchen in New York. The Preservation Hall Jazz
Band asked Min to play as a special guest, and the Taipei Chinese
Orchestra invited her to perform the world premiere of Anthony De Ritis'
"Ping Pong," a concerto for pipa.
2005 – 2006 highlights included appearances with her Blue Pipa Trio at the JVC Jazz Festival, the Deer Isle Jazz Festival, the world premiere of seven pieces with the Nieuw Ensemble at the Amsterdam-China Music Festival, and six solo concerts in Holland and Belgium organized by RASA (Centre for World Cultures).
Ms. Min was also the subject of a feature
article in The New York Times by Joseph Horowitz.
In 2007, Min was a featured composer and performer for the American Composers Orchestra’s “Composer Out Front” project.
She recorded for Björk’s new album Volta, and was invited by Björk to play as special guest
on the Madison Square Garden concert and Radio City in New York.
Min received a new commission,
Return of the Dragon, from The Kitchen, and also performed with her Asian Trio at The Kitchen.
Min has taught master classes and was an artist in residence at schools and universities across the United States and Europe, including the Juilliard School, the Texas A&M University, the Boston Conservatory, the New School, the Haystack Mountain School of Arts Crafts and the Amsterdam Conservatory.
She is the founder of Blue Pipa Inc. (www.bluepipa.org) and currently lives in New York City.
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