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9
WEDNESDAY
With Beethoven and Mozart figuring prominently, the program for the Shanghai Quartet’s performance tonight might not seem too venturesome. Also scheduled, however, is Zhou Long’s Soul for String Quartet and Pipa, for which the quartet will be joined by Wu Man, probably the best-known pipa (a Chinese lute with four silk strings) player on this side of the Pacific. She is well acquainted with string quartets, having joined the Kronos Quartet frequently for performances of music by contemporary Chinese composers (notably Tan Dun) and medieval Western ones (on Kronos’ recent Early Music CD). At 7:30 p.m. at the Smithsonian Institution’s Meyer Auditorium, Freer Gallery, 12th & Jefferson Dr. SW. (202) 357-3200. Free. (Mark Jenkins)