Jiang Kemei

Jiang Kemei is one of the most respected huqin virtuosos of her generation. The huqin family — a group of bowed string instruments that includes the jinghu, banhu, erhu, gaohu and zhonghu — sits at the heart of Chinese orchestral and operatic tradition, and Jiang has made her name as one of the very few players to have mastered the full range.

She is Honorary Chief of the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra, a Chinese National First-Class Performer, and Guest Professor at the Central Conservatory of Music. Her training combined two of the country's most distinguished pedagogical lineages — Shenyang Conservatory and the Central Conservatory, under teachers Xu Shilong and Li Heng. She is a recipient of the State Council special allowance, a recognition reserved for individuals making outstanding contributions to Chinese culture and the arts.

Her international concert work has taken her to major halls across Asia, Europe and North America, including a recital at Carnegie Hall in 2008 — one of the first significant solo Chinese-traditional-instrument appearances at the venue.

In July 2025 she performed Deep in the Night (Ye Shen Chen) on the jinghu — the high-pitched lead bowed instrument of Beijing opera — at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, as soloist with the Guizhou Chinese Orchestra and The Australia Orchestra. The piece, drawn from the Beijing opera repertoire, is one of the showcase works for the jinghu's distinctive vocal-imitating tone.