Understory | Artists
Mei Han
Mei Han (Ph. D.) is one of the world’s premiere zheng artists. Han studied with Gao Zicheng and Zhang Yao, two zheng masters, and took the top zheng performance position at the prestigious Beijing Zhan You Ensemble at the age of 20. Moving onto international stages, she has been exploring new directions for solo zheng and unique combinations of zheng with other instruments in a contemporary experimental aesthetic. She has performed with leading artists around the world in a multitude of musical genres from symphonic, chamber and New Music; to traditional and World music; and from Creative Improvisation to electronic. Han’s career spans Asia, Africa, Australia, Europe, and North America with performing in many prestigious venues. She has recorded eight albums, three of which received nominations for the Canadian Juno Award and that of the Songlines (England). She is the director of the Center for Chinese Music and Culture at Middle Tennessee State University and Associate Professor at the School of Music.