Wu Man is a founding member of Yo-Yo Ma's Silkroad Ensemble, which aims to bring cultures together through music. She is a virtuoso in the pipa - also called the Chinese lute - which has been played in China for around 2000 years and she is credited with giving the instrument a new role in both traditional and contemporary music. Wu Man was the first person to receive a master's degree in pipa performance from the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. She collaborates with the Kronos Quartet and the Shanghai Quartet, and has worked with orchestras around the world. She has recorded more than 40 albums, five of which have been nominated for Grammy Awards. She was named Musical America's 2013 Instrumentalist of the Year. Wu Man plays with the NZ String Quartet in a concert organised by Victoria University and the Confucius Institute, at St Mary of the Angels, Wellington on September 28.