Han Mei (韩梅) is an internationally acclaimed concert artist on the zheng (Chinese long zither), She studied with legendary zheng masters and toured with the most prestigious music ensemble in China. Moving to the West, she has explored the zheng in many new genres, including new music, chamber music, free improvisation, electro-acoustic, and world music, and has created a body of contemporary works. She has toured to five continents and performed in prestigious venues, festivals in numerous countries, and released eight albums. She received two Juno nominations (Canadian Music Award). Her unique position as an international performer and scholar was recognized by Bruno Nettl (1930-2020) in The Study of Ethnomusicology: Thirty-Three Discussions (2015), the primary textbook for the discipline.

Mei Han is the founding director of MTSU Center for Chinese Music and Culture. She received her doctoral and master’s degrees in Ethnomusicology from the University of British Columbia and a master’s degree in Musicology from the National Arts Academy of China.

Dr. Han’s academic research fields include the music of China, East Asia, and cross-cultural music communication. Her publications includes journal articles, book chapter, and entries for The Groves Dictionary of Musical Instruments and The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. She has presented at numerous international conferences, and lectured at higher institutions globally.