Su-Chen LIU Erhu Instructor Ms. Liu  grew up in Taiwan Hsinchu. She graduated from National Taiwan Academy of Arts Chinese Music Department with the first place in 1985. Ms. Liu was a professional Erhu player in Taipei Chinese Orchestra for 10 years since 1988. As the Orchestra member, she visited USA, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong & Mainland China. She taught at summer music camp hosted by Taipei Chinese Orchestra for many years. Also, she taught at many schools’ Chinese Orchestras as an Erhu instructor. These schools include Zhongshan Girls High School, Shuguang Girls High School, Huajiang Middle School, Dafeng Elementary School, Wangxi Elementary School and Dongmen Elementary School in Taipei, and Zhongzheng Middle School and Xinyi Elementary School in Keelung. In 1998, she held a solo concert in Recital Hall of National Concert Hall in Taipei, and then immigrated to the US. She performed with Crystal Children’s Choir many times since 2000. In October 2006, she performed Moon Reflection in Erquan with San Francisco Girls Chorus successfully.

Bei CHEN Cello Instructor Bei Chen started playing the cello in the Children’s Music School of Shanghai Conservatory of Music at the age of ten. After graduation from the Conservatory’s middle music school in 1969, Bei played the cello professionally with Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Peking Opera House and Shanghai Philharmonic Society. Bei is a member of China Cello Academy and Shanghai musicians' Association. Bei came to the United States to study Arts Management in a master's program in1990. Now he is teaching private cello lessons part time in South Bay Area.

Mark KUO
Dizi Instructor

Born in Taiwan, Mr. Kuo was a persistent member in the student Chinese orchestras from junior high to college, and became the Director and Conductor of the Chinese Music Club in college. He also participated the Qin-Yaun Chinese Orchestra in Taipei. Mark received a M.S.E.E. from University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1996. After settling down in the Bay area, Mr. Kuo served as dizi and sheng soloist in the South Bay Chinese Orchestra and in the Golden Gate Ensemble (led by Yangqin Zhao). He learned the dizi from Tai-Sheng Bai in Taiwan. In recent years, Mr. Kuo has been studying the Kunqu from Prof. Lindy Li, and Kundi from dizi soloist Ming Zeng (China). He is also the primary Kundi accompanist in the Kunqu ensemble in the Bay area.

Wanpeng GUO
Sheng Instructor

A member of the China Musician Association, China Nationalities Orchestra Society, and China National Wind Instrument Society. Mr. Guo studied the sheng, guan, suona from the famous wind instrument maker and performer WU Zhongfu in his childhood. He attended Beijing Youth Palace Chinese Orchestra and performed solos. In the end of 1977, Guo joined China National Chinese Orchestra. Since then, he recorded many pieces of music for broadcasting stations, recording companies, movies and TV shows. Along with the Orchestra, he visited France, German, Australia, Denmark, and the US, including over hundred solo performances. As a member of Asian Orchestra whose musicians were from China, Japan, and Korea, he performed in many cities in these three countries. In 2000, he was invited as a guest musician to perform in Singapore Chinese Orchestra for three months. He served as a deputy supervisor in the Orchestra 1992-1996. During that period. Guo was a conductor in training Beijing Demao Middle School and Huayuancun Middle School. The latter won second place in a Beijing middle school Chinese orchestra competition. Mr. Guo immigrated to the US in 2001, Mr. Guo has been a Sheng instructor in FYCO. He was, later on, a sheng soloist in Melody of China in SF, and also a conductor in Great Wall Youth Orchestra in Oakland. In 2005, Yan Huichang, the conductor of Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, praised Guo as “the most excellent alto sheng player in the world.”

Emily LIN
Liuqin Instructor

Ms. Emily I Lan Lin was born in Taiwan Taipei, and has been studying piano since she was little. At age 9, she began Liuqin and Ruan with liuqin master Catherine Cheng. Not only did she graduate from Hwakang art high school and receive her BFA from Chinese Culture University Chinese music department (majoring in liuqin), she also studied with many famous Chinese plucked instrument masters from Taiwan, Hong Kong and China. In 1999 she was honored as a Hwakang Chinese music new superstar, and performed the liuqin concerto Melody on a Moonlit River in Taipei National Recital Hall. In 2005, she earned her Master’s degree in Music Education from Pennsylvania State University. She had two wonderful and successful solo recitals during her study at Penn State University. Ms. Lin received many liuqin and ruan championship in Taiwan Taipei East district. In 1995 and 1996, she earned the Taiwan National Youth Liuqin Competition champion and second award. Since 1992, she has performed in countless places including Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, USA and Guam with Taipei Liuqin Ensemble, Taipei Youth Chinese Orchestra, HwaKang Yuan-Shiun Chinese Classical Ensemble and Keelung Municipal Chinese Classical Orchestra. She has taught at many schools as a Chinese plucked instrument instructor, and was a Liuqin group judge committee member at the 2000 Taipei Millennium Ethno-music competition.

Fenglin ZHANG
Sheng Instructor

Learning Chinese instruments since childhood. After 10 year's education, Zhang graduated from China Conservatory of Music in 1985. He entered in China National Opera Theater playing the Sheng and Xun professionally for 15 years. Along with the Theater, Zhang performed more than 1,000 shows all over China. He also performed in CCTV live music program, made many recordings, and participated in some significant national and international arts activities, visiting Japan, Russia and other a dozen countries/areas. As a lead musician in the Theater, Zhang performed in the 1st and 2nd China Arts Festival. He won the Excellent Performer Award in 1991 given by the Department of Culture due to his dedication in performing in Tibet. When President Bill Clinton visited China in 1998, he made special performance with the Theater, sending Clinton a music CD, and was highly praised by the guest.

Gordon LEE
Artistic Director

Gordon Lee is also known as XIE Tan. Born in Beijing, his home province is Sichuan. During the Cultural Revolution in 1969, he was sent to a farm near the border between Siberia and China, working in a Peking Opera and Dance-Song troupe as a composer, conductor, and Pipa player. In 1973, Lee studied Chinese music at Sichuan Conservatory of Music under Professor CHEN Jilue, the founder and conductor of the first professional Chinese orchestra in China in the 1930-40s. As his mentor for 16 years, Professor Chen was the most influential figure to Lee.

By private lessons, Lee has studied traditional Chinese operatic music, composition, conducting, and Chinese instruments performance under the following teachers:
--• He Wei, Chinese operatic music professor at Central Chinese Opera Research Institute.
--• Xie Zhennan, composition professor at Sichuan Conservatory of Music; Dr. Tikey Zes, composition professor at San Jose State University.
--• Zhang Qi, conductor of Wuhan Dance-Song Theater Orchestra; Xu Xin, professor of conducting at Central Conservatory of Music.
--• Han Shude, Pipa professor at Sichuan Conservatory of Music; Wu Junsheng, Wang Fandi, Pipa professors at China Conservatory of Music.

In 1978, Lee entered China Pingju Opera Theater in Beijing as a professional Pipa player. He came to the United States to further his studies in 1989. He received a MA degree in theater arts in 1995 from San Jose State University. His thesis won the Outstanding Thesis Award. Immediately after his graduation, he founded the Eastern Music Center. In 2000, he founded Firebird Youth Chinese Orchestra (FYCO). Since 2002, he is the Chinese music instructor at San Jose City College. Over the years Lee developed FYCO into a full size Chinese orchestra complete with four balanced sections, and also composed a number of new works: Mulan Ballad, The Winchester House, and Scenic Season’s Suite. Symphony Silicon Valley commissioned him for the Symphonic Suite for Erhu, Pipa & Sheng: Young Impressions of the Old City, which will premiere in the Symphony’s 2009-2010 performing season.

Currently, Lee is the artistic and executive director of FYCO. Under his leadership, FYCO has been awarded by arts agencies from the city to the federal government for years. Individually, Lee received an “Investing in the Artists” grant award from Center for Cultural Innovation in 2008, and a “Composer Assistant Program” award from American Music Center in 2009.