Tang Liangxing was born into a musical family in Shanghai. He began learning the erhu at the age of 7, and at 13 was accepted into the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra with distinction in pipa and erhu. He studied the pipa under Niao Linsheng, Sun Yude, Ma Shenglong, Wei Zhongle and Li Tingsheng, and at 14 took lessons with maestro Chang Chihchien. He pursued his studies with such dedication that when he made his first appearance as a concert soloist at 15 his talent was immediately recognized and appreciated by the musical world. His solid technique and powerful musicality won him first prize in the 1974 pipa completion held in mainland China. When he was selected by the Central Symphony Orchestra as a special pipa soloist. His outstanding playing both in mainland China and on a tour of 16 cities in Japan brought him high critical acclaim. Subsequently he took part in major performances in Beijing and Shanghai and played as a pipa soloist with the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, the Shanghai Arts Orchestra, the Shanghai Soloist Ensemble, the Shanghai Ballet Orchestra and the Chinese Youth Artists Orchestra, as well we appearing on numerous occasions in Scandinavia, Central Europe, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Australia, Asia, and North America. He was greeted everywhere with effusive praise, being called "one of the world's most outstanding and moving soloist" and "without doubt one of the most notable Chinese pipa players". A series of pipa solo recitals in Hong Kong in 1981 proved a smash hit among local music lovers. Records of his major repertoire are sold around the world, and in 1986 his biography was included in the Dictionary of China Artists. Tan Liangxing's playing is compelling, magnificent and full of infectious warmth. He is adept at playing music of contrasting styles, and is universally acknowledged to be one of the premier modern Chinese pipa instrumentalists. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.