Fengxia Xu
(Guzheng, Sangxian)

was born in Shanghai. Already at the age of seven
she began to play various plucked instruments.

In 1985 she graduated from Shanghai Conservatory
and subsequently player with the renowned
Shanghai Orchestra for Chinese Music.
In 1988 she toured in Germany for the first time
but also took part in Shanghai's first all-female rock band.

In 1990 she gave her first joint concert with jazz musicians
in Shanghai's People's Theatre.

Xu Fengxia moved to Germany in 1991 and started to play with the Gu-Feng Ensemble,
a group of four Chinese top female musicians
living in Germany in the following year.

Between 1991 and 1996 she was also member
of the ensemble Shanghai Connection.

In 1995 she started her collaboration with the bass player Peter Kowald from Wuppertal, among others in his band Global Village, perfoming at festivals all over the world.

Since 1997 she has been imcreasingly appearing as a soloist with compositions of contemporary Chinese composers
such as Xu Shuya, Qu Xiaosong, Chen Xiaoyong or
Zhou  Long together with the Nieuw Ensemble Amsterdam, the Ensemble Rechere, the Bremen Chamber Philharmonics and the Bavarian Radio Symphonics.

She started performing with Ensemble Sarband in 2008.

You are listening to the Ouverture to our program
"Sindbad the Sailor",
concert recording, Graz, 20.7.2008