Lucy Zhao’s music transcends sonic borders. As a soloist on the pipa – the Chinese necked lute – she leads audiences on emotional journeys in which the instrument’s centuries-old heritage meets the pulsing breath of the present: a sound world between memory and departure.
Her artistic path has been shaped by early mastery and a deliberate expansion of her practice. Trained as a pipa virtuoso in Beijing, she appeared as early as 2008 as a member of a pipa orchestra at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games.
At the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she intensified her studies and gained initial international experience, before moving to Europe in 2015 and developing her artistic language in new contexts.
Today, Lucy Zhao is an internationally sought-after soloist, appearing in venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Haus für Mozart in Salzburg, and the ZKM Karlsruhe. Critics describe the special allure of her playing: the hall becomes “completely silent,” the effect is “breathtaking”; her expression has been praised as a “mixture of tender lyricism and explosive rhythm.”
Her repertoire spans the classical solo tradition of the pipa as well as contemporary works (including by Tan Dun). In symphonic settings, she has established herself as a soloist (e.g., with the Niederrheinische Sinfoniker and the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra).
She also explores new sound worlds through free improvisation (e.g. with the Ensemble Śabdagatitāra and in the trio BirkeJanekZhao). This interplay of tradition, the present, and experimentation has also led her to cross-traditional projects – among others with the Orchester der Kulturen, the Lautten Compagney Berlin, and with Sandeep Bhagwati and Peter Wiegold (The Third Orchestra).
At the heart of her work is a deeply personal yet universal impulse: a living dialogue between rooted tradition and bold modernity – new, focused, and compelling in every performance.
Lucy Zhao’s music transcends sonic borders. As a soloist on the pipa – the Chinese necked lute – she leads audiences on emotional journeys in which the instrument’s centuries-old heritage meets the pulsing breath of the present: a sound world between memory and departure.
Her artistic path has been shaped by early mastery and a deliberate expansion of her practice. Trained as a pipa virtuoso in Beijing, she appeared as early as 2008 as a member of a pipa orchestra at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games.
At the China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, she intensified her studies and gained initial international experience, before moving to Europe in 2015 and developing her artistic language in new contexts.
Today, Lucy Zhao is an internationally sought-after soloist, appearing in venues such as the Konzerthaus Berlin, the Haus für Mozart in Salzburg, and the ZKM Karlsruhe. Critics describe the special allure of her playing: the hall becomes “completely silent,” the effect is “breathtaking”; her expression has been praised as a “mixture of tender lyricism and explosive rhythm.”
Her repertoire spans the classical solo tradition of the pipa as well as contemporary works (including by Tan Dun). In symphonic settings, she has established herself as a soloist (e.g., with the Niederrheinische Sinfoniker and the Vienna Hofburg Orchestra).
She also explores new sound worlds through free improvisation (e.g. with the Ensemble Śabdagatitāra and in the trio BirkeJanekZhao). This interplay of tradition, the present, and experimentation has also led her to cross-traditional projects – among others with the Orchester der Kulturen, the Lautten Compagney Berlin, and with Sandeep Bhagwati and Peter Wiegold (The Third Orchestra).
At the heart of her work is a deeply personal yet universal impulse: a living dialogue between rooted tradition and bold modernity – new, focused, and compelling in every performance.
© Lucy Zhao Pipa 2026. All rights reserved.