古箏演奏家曹桂芬，一九三八年六月出生於河南的音樂世家，二零一九年五月二十八日病逝於鄭州。曹氏為河南鄧縣人，系河南著名箏箏家曹東扶之女。自幼隨父習箏，深得曹派古箏藝術之精髓，並跟隨父親學了許多河南大調曲子、曲牌，彈唱俱佳。十六歲時，加入河南開封曲劇團任演奏員，後調開封市京劇團、市文工團，一九七八年，調河南省曲劇團。二十五歲時參加「全國首屆獨唱獨奏會」，以三首河南箏曲《陳杏元落院》、《上樓》、《河南曲牌聯奏》見稱當時，具有很高的演奏水平和藝術魅力。
CAO Gui-fen
CAO Gui-fen was born on June 1938 in Henan province and passed away of illness on May 28, 2019 in Zhengzhou Henan province. Her ancestral home was in Dengzhou, Henan province. She was the daughter of the renowned zheng artist CAO Dong-fu of the Henan school. She learned the zheng, Henan Da Diao and Qupai from her father. When she was sixteen, she joined the Qu Theater of Kaifeng as a member of its orchestra and later transferred to the Beijing Opera Theater of Kaifeng. In 1978, she was transferred to the Qu Theater of Henan Province. When she was twenty five, she was selected to participate in the 1st Session of the National Recital and Solo Concert. Her performance was high level and well received.