Wu Man's achievements in bringing the pipa to new audiences were recognized at the end of 2012 when "Musical America" selected her as the 2013 Instrumentalist of the Year. She is the first performer of a non-Western instrument to receive this award. Later that season, Wu Man premiered her composition "Blue and Green" with New York–based chamber orchestra The Knights. Arranged for pipa and string orchestra by Lev Zhurbin and The Knights' Colin Jacobsen, the work is influenced by folk melodies that Wu Man heard travelling through China. That same season, Wu Man premiered Zhao Jiping’s Pipa Concerto No. 2 at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, who commissioned the work along with a consortium of North American orchestras.