Wu Fei is a classically trained composer, singer and master of the guzheng — the 21-string Chinese zither. She has taken her music around the world, appearing at venues such as Beijing’s Forbidden City Concert Hall, Shanghai’s Expo 2010, New York’s MoMA, the Quai Branly Museum in Paris, and the Big Ears Festival in Tennessee. Wu plays in the guzheng’s vernacular — a musical language at least 2,500 years old — mixing Western classical and Chinese traditions with a contemporary sound.
Her chamber composition “Hello Gold Mountain” earned her a MAP Fund award and was inspired by the real stories of Jewish refugees who fled to Shanghai from Europe in World War II. Her work in television has included compositions for AMC’s Hell on Wheels and PBS’ web series The History of White People in America. She has collaborated with artists from varied disciplines, ranging from Emmy-winning directors to Grammy-winning musicians such as Béla Fleck and percussionist Billy Martin (Medeski-Martin-Wood). Wu has released two solo recordings and two collaborative albums — one with classical guitarist Gyan Riley, and the other with singer-songwriter Abigail Washburn.
