Gao Hong

Gao Hong (born 1964 in Luoyang, Henan) is a composer and performer of the Chinese pipa (pear-shaped lute). She serves as the professor of Chinese Musical Instruments at Carleton College. She is the recipient of multiple music awards and has been honored by the Saint Paul, Minnesota Mayor Melvin Carter (politician), who declared April 3, 2022 to be Gao Hong Day. Gao has lived in the United States since 1994. She performs traditional and modern Chinese music, with her groups Spirit of Nature and Beijing Trio (a different group from the Beijing Trio which includes Max Roach, Jon Jang, and Jiebing Chen). She has also participated in cross-cultural musical collaborations, performing with jazz musicians and musicians from other cultures, including James Newton, Issam Rafea and Shubhendra Rao.

She is a graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, where she studied with the pipa master Lin Shicheng, of the Pudong School of pipa playing. She later became a pipa soloist for the Beijing Song and Dance Troupe.