How Does the Pipa Become a Contemporary Sound? — Translating Traditional Grammar into Contemporary Vocabulary

Introduction:
This lecture begins with the pipa’s own performance techniques and explores how they are used and transformed in different contexts, including contemporary music composition, free improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Rather than being replaced, traditional grammar is restructured and repositioned within new frameworks of listening and creation. Through demonstrations and case studies, the lecture will show how the pipa can move from its traditional grammar toward a sonic vocabulary that can be understood and employed within contemporary contexts.

Su Yun-Han is a Taiwanese pipa performer and currently serves as Assistant Professor in the Department of Traditional Music at Taipei National University of the Arts. Her work focuses on the translation and practice of the pipa between traditional and contemporary contexts. Her performance and research encompass traditional repertoire, silk-string pipa, contemporary works, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaboration. In recent years, through creation, interpretation, and teaching, she has continued to explore the pipa’s multiple possibilities as a contemporary sonic medium, while reflecting on its extensions and dialogues across different cultural and performance contexts.