Plucked instruments
Biography
Liu Guilian graduated from the Central Conservatory of Music, remained there to teach, and served as principal and soloist of the conservatory orchestra’s plucked-instrument section. She later taught at Shanghai Normal University, where she directed instrumental studies and supervised graduate students.
Her professional service included the Chinese Musicians Association, the China Nationalities Orchestra Society’s Pipa Committee, the Shanghai Pipa Society, and the Hong Kong Modern Chinese Orchestra Elite. She received early senior-rank recognition from China’s Ministry of Culture, was selected for a Ministry of Education cross-century talent program, and received the Ministry of Culture title Outstanding Performer.
Her performance tours reached more than thirty countries and regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland, Switzerland, Russia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macao. Media and concert presenters used descriptions including “Pipa Poet” and “Pipa Master.”
She appeared as the pipa performer in the 1980 Academy Award-winning documentary From Mao to Mozart. Her musical collaborations included Peng Liyuan, Min Huifen, Tang Muhai, Wang Fujian, Yu Lina, and Lu Siqing, as well as the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Macao Chinese Orchestra, British Columbia Chinese Orchestra, Central Orchestra, China Film Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Red Chamber.
Her concert venues included the Berlin Philharmonie, Amsterdam Concertgebouw, a BBC concert hall, the University of British Columbia, Beijing Concert Hall, and Shanghai Concert Hall. Audiences for official cultural performances included Deng Xiaoping, Richard Nixon, Boris Yeltsin, Pham Van Dong, Kakuei Tanaka, and Norodom Sihanouk.
Professional musicians and conductors who commented on her work included Wu Zuqiang, Wang Cizhao, Liu Dehai, Lin Shicheng, Herbert von Karajan, Isaac Stern, Yehudi Menuhin, and Seiji Ozawa.
After settling in Vancouver, Liu founded the nonprofit Pearl Music Studio and served as artistic director. Her students earned Kiwanis Music Festival medals and overall recognition, and some achieved scores above 95 in Central Conservatory overseas examinations. She also taught and advised the University of British Columbia Chinese orchestra.
Her adjudication work included the 2009 Taipei Chinese instrumental competition, the 2011 Hong Kong Schools Music Festival, Liaoyuan pipa events in 2012 and 2015, a 2014 national pipa competition in China, and Dunhuang Cup and other professional competitions.
On February 28, 2015, she performed Zhao Jiping’s Pipa Concerto No. 2 with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra at the Orpheum. Her Vancouver chamber work also included the ensemble Red Chamber.
Biographical reference works that included her professional record included Chinese Contemporary Writers and Artists, published through Peking University; World Who’s Who, issued by a Hong Kong cultural exchange centre; and the International Biographical Centre’s Twentieth Century Outstanding Persons.
Professional areas
- Pipa performance
- Music education
- Adjudication