Lute musician Gao Hong

A soloist who scheduled to perform with the Wartburg Community Symphony this weekend will offer a free masterclass Friday, Feb. 14. Gao Hong, a virtuoso on the Chinese pipa, will lead the masterclass from 1 to 2 p.m. in Orchestra Hall of the Wartburg Fine Arts Center.

Officials with the Wartburg Community Symphony announced that one of the world’s “most accomplished pipa virtuoso[s],†Gao Hong, will make a return to Waverly for a special performance on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Wartburg Community Symphony conductor Rebecca Nederhiser stated in a press release that Hong will perform with the Wartburg Community Symphony in a concert set for 2 p.m. on Feb. 15 at Neumann Auditorium.

“We are thrilled to celebrate the Chinese New Year with pipa extraordinaire Gao Hong,†Nederhiser stated in the email. “She will appear in our ‘East Meets West’ concert a week after her performance with the Minnesota Orchestra. She has many local fans from her performances with the Waverly Chamber Music Series.â€

According to the press release, Hong started playing the pipa, a pear-shaped lute, as a young child in China and became a professional musician at the age of 12. A graduate of Beijing’s acclaimed Central Conservatory of Music, Hong studied under the great pipa master Lin Shicheng.

In addition to past performances in Waverly, Hong has also performed around the world and teamed up with orchestras, jazz musicians, chamber ensembles and performers from many cultures and nations.

Hong teaches at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, as director of the Chinese Music Ensemble and is a guest professor at multiple conservatories in China, including the Central Conservatory of Music and China Conservatory.

During the Feb. 15 concert, Hong will perform two of her unique compositions, “Guangxi Impression Concerto†and “Flying Dragon Concerto,†as well as “Mother Goose Suite†by French composer Maurice Ravel and “Strum†by contemporary composer Jessie Montgomery, who is known for her weaving of classical elements with folk music, R&B, spirituals, jazz and hip-hop.

Concert tickets cost $20. Youth, considered 18 and younger, and Wartburg College students are admitted free. Tickets can be purchased at the door or online at .

In addition to Hong’s concert, the “Behind the Music†pre-concert talk with Conductor Nederhiser is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. on Feb. 15 in Neumann Auditorium. Guests will be Hong and musician Brisa de Paula, contrabassoonist for Ravel’s “Mother Goose Suite.â€

“We know concertgoers will be fascinated with the unique sounds of the pipa and the contrabassoon, which plays some of the lowest notes of any instrument in the orchestra,†Nederhiser said.

The public is also invited to attend a free Wartburg masterclass with Hong from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14, in the Wartburg Fine Arts Center Choral Hall. Gao will demonstrate the pipa and discuss elements of Chinese culture within her music. Signs directing attendees to the Choral Hall will be posted in the Fine Arts Center lobby.

Contact Dr. Rebecca Nederhiser via email at rebecca.nederhiser@wartburg.edu for more information.