Hu Tianquan

Hu Tianquan (Chinese: 胡天泉) is a sheng virtuoso. The sheng (Chinese: 笙) is a mouth-blown free reed instrument consisting essentially of vertical pipes. Hu Tianquan was born in 1934 in Xin County, Shanxi Province, China. From childhood he apprenticed under his father in the mastery of sheng, suona, pipes, whistles and other ethnic wind instruments. In 1953, 19-year-old Hu Tianquan joined the army's art troupe as a performer, in the Jinan Military Region.