Ma XiaoHui Listen! The Deep Night Recorded live in concert.
with Burnett Thompson, Pianist

See Performance Dialogue with pianist Burnett Thompson:

The renowned Erhu virtuoso Ma XiaoHui is one of China’s premiere musical artists. She is a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference and of the United Nations Oriental Art Center. She serves as Adviser to the Hong Kong Youth Music Association and to the Ning Bo Folk Music Orchestra,is Guest Professor at Southwest Jiaotong University (Chengdu) and envoy to of the Special Olympics.

Ma XiaoHui performed the erhu solos in the soundtrack of the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that won the Oscar for Best Original Music.

Her world premieres include “Wailing Waters , ”Chant & Allegro, ”Maiden Lan Hua-Hua,”Genghis Khan,”The Shepherd Girl, ”Hard to Say Good-Bye, ”Night Color in the Desert” and “Deep at Night.”. She also composed “The Spirit of My Erhu” and “The Story of Two Strings,” and made a great number of adaptations of Western and Chinese classical compositions, such as Bartok’s”Romanian Folk Dances,” Bach’s Inventions and Sonatas, Kreisler’s”Liebesleid” and Ping Tan Opera “Call Mother in the Nunnery.”

Her virtuosity blends classical beauty and contemporary originality by integrating different cultural schools. Her innovative work with the instrument has brought about unique skills and sounds. These are evidenced in her own compositions and in her performance of new works by Chinese composers as well as the mainstays of European repertoire. Ma XiaoHui has advanced and enriched the complex potential of the erhu.

A graduate of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, Ma XiaoHui has won numerous awards: the Top Prize for the National Guangdong Music Competition (Gaohu Section) in 1987, the local Baosteel Classic Arts Award in 1994 and 1999, and the Top Prize for the 1st Shanghai Spring International Music Festival in 2001. Her concert at the Kennedy Center in 1999 was reputed as one of the Center’s Ten Concerts of the Year. She is also designated by the British Cambridge Center and American Biography Institute in their list of “Great People of 21st Century,”International Culture Envoy” and “International Outstanding Women.”

Ma XiaoHui has already made frequent world tours. In the last ten years she collaborated with orchestras in more than a hundred concerts, including the Berlin Chamber Orchestra and Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra ofFrance, Opera Orchestra of Florence in Italy, St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra in Switzerland, Stavenger Symphony Orchestra in Norway, Greek Symphony Orchestra, Kennedy Center in Washington D. C., American Chamber Ensemble, Yokohama Symphony Orchestra and NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan, National Symphony Orchestra in Mexico, Hong Kong Traditional Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Taipei Traditional Orchestra, Macao Traditional Orchestra, Singapore National Symphony Orchestra, Korean Traditional Ensemble, and National Symphony Orchestra in China. She has made over 40 CD's. She has lectured at the University of Notre Dame, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, Tanwai University, Fudan University, Jiaotong University and Tongji University. She has performed for major events, including APEC in Shanghai (1999), Shanghai’s bid for 2008 World Expo (2003) and Bravo China (2002). Her globetrotting appearances in international art festivals has won her a large following worldwide.

Ma XiaoHui is acclaimed by critics as “an artist who talks with the world through the erhu” and “a musician who plays with heart.”

The Nuremberg Daily: “The erhu, an ordinary instrument in appearance, gains an incredible strength through the interpretation of Ma XiaoHui.”

Oxford Times: “non-lyric song by a mezzo-soprano. The music is flying beyond the cultural differences and national boundaries, featuring Ma XiaoHui’svirtuosity that glistens over us like bright sunshine,”

Munich Times: “she portrays a vivid and colorful picture through her instrument.”