One of China’s few First Class traditional artists who has embraced an international career, renowned Erhu virtuoso, professor and composer Ma Xiaohui speaks with the world through her Erhu (Chinese violin). She is famous in China for her beautiful classical and cross-cultural music, and she is in high demand throughout the world as a performer who deeply moves her audiences.
Ma Xiaohui served for years as Concert Master for the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, and continues to serve in the honored role of “First Class Artist.” She is founder of the Ma Xiaohui Special Fund for Culture and Art, Shanghai Song Ching Ling Foundation, Cultural Director for the Shanghai Cultural Exchange Association, Director of the Shanghai Ma Xiaohui Art Center, etc. Additionally, Ma Xiaohui has been appointed Global Cultural Ambassador for the World Expo. Ma Xiaohui has become one of the most celebrated Chinese artists, reflected in the fact that national official postage stamps have been released in her honor five times!
Ma Xiaohui is perhaps best recognized for her famous duet with cellist Yo-Yo Ma on Tan Dun’s Oscar-winning soundtrack for the film “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” in 2000. This soundtrack introduced the beauty and depth of Erhu music to the West. She has worked closely with many famous conductors including Tan Dun, Zubin Mehta, Lorin Maazel, David Stern, and Shao En.
Ma Xiaohui has received numerous honors and awards, such as the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage “Best Performance” award in Washington, D.C., and the Shanghai Spring International Music Festival top prize. Notably, she was selected to play for 21 presidents during the 2001 APEC in Shanghai. Recently, she was awarded the distinction of being one of the “top 40 leaders and artists over the past 40 years” in Shanghai. She was selected to serve as expert judge of the National Art Foundation, among many such honors. Ma Xiaohui serves as Love Ambassador for the Special Olympics. Additionally, Ma Xiaohui served with distinction for 15 years on Shanghai’s CPPCC government advisory committee, effectively promoting the advancement of cross-cultural art and music throughout Shanghai.
Ma Xiaohui originated “Erhu Holding Hands with the World” in 2003 – a unique multicultural musical phenomenon that has thrilled audiences around the world. In 2008, she performed “Erhu Holding Hands” in Carnegie Weill Recital Hall, Lincoln Center, a performance that was “rapturously received” and “conquered the audience” according to the New York City media. She has since expanded her repertoire to include an interactive lecture-concert titled “The Psychology of Music Healing the Soul,” which she has performed hundreds of times to rave reviews. In 2023 she produced her “New Style World Music Tour” promoting “Beauty, Love & Peace.” This was launched in NYC in the United Nations Headquarters.
Ma Xiaohui has performed in such venues as: French National Symphony Orchestra, Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra Ensemble, Norway’s Stavenger Symphony Orchestra, Capetown Symphony Orchestra, China National Symphony Orchestra, Mexican National Symphony Orchestra, Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, Singapore National Symphony Orchestra, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Buenos Aires National Symphony Orchestra in the Teatro Colon Theatre and many others.
Many famous concert halls have hosted her performances as well, including Carnegie Weil Hall, Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center, Champs-Elysee Concert Hall, Herkulessal Munich Concert Hall, Vienna Golden Concert Hall, China’s National Performance Center (The Egg), Beijing Concert Hall, Bern’s Beethoven House, Hamburg Concert Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Oxford Concert Hall, NHK Concert Hall, Stockholm Concert Hall, Florence Concert Hall, and Shanghai Grand Theater.
Ma Xiaohui is one of the few Chinese musicians invited regularly to top international festivals, including the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival in Germany (3 times), the Crested Butte Music Festival in the US, the Shanghai International Music Festival, and many other prestigious music festivals.
Ma Xiaohui has composed and arranged many pieces, produced over 20 CDs, and contributed to many others. A new CD recorded in Nashville, combining east-west musical instrument and sounds, is scheduled for release in 2023. In 2016, Ma Xiaohui provided the entire powerful soundtrack for the film “Daughter of the Mountains,” and acted the lead role of an Erhu maestro for the film.
Ma Xiaohui serves on faculty as honorary professor at several top Shanghai Universities, providing cross-cultural lectures and musical performances that have been very well received. As a visiting professor Ma Xiaohui has served on many faculties, including Columbia University, Indiana University, Notre Dame University, University of Michigan, Northwest University, Claremont University, Baylor University, Shanghai TCM University, Fudan University, Shanghai University School of Music, Sino-British College Shanghai, and Southwest Jiaotong University.
Media around the world have sung the praises of Ma Xiaohui. The Oxford Times Weekend wrote after hearing her perform: “Ma Xiaohui drew a kind of alto human voice bereft of words, but given song. It sounds so culture-free and universal that Ma Xiaohui’s gift, and vibrant musicality, shone out on us like light.” The Munich Press stated: “The very promotion of China was the soloist Ma Xiaohui. The magic of this charming lady with the erhu touched the audience. With nimble virtuosity, she presented “Shepherdess in the Tianshan Mountains” in such a persuasive manner that we fully believed again in music as a universal language.”
Ma Xiaohui says that her desire is to spread beauty and harmony throughout the world through the spirit and beauty of her Erhu music – one soul at a time. She is often referred to as “Oriental Music Angel.”