Melody of China with Sound of Dragon

Melody of China performs with Sound of Dragon Ensemble from Vancouver. Melody of China artists include: Yangqin Zhao on yangqin (hammered dulcimer); Gangqin Zhao on guzheng (zither); Wanpeng Guo on sheng (mouth organ); Shenshen Zhang on pipa (lute); Gary Schwantes on dizi (bamboo flute)/saxophone. They will be joined by guest artists Lan Tung on erhu (2-string bowed fiddle) and members of Sound of Dragon Ensemble featuring Chinese instruments with flute, guitar, cello and percussion. The concert program will feature new arrangements of traditional repertoire as well as several world premieres by composers from the U.S. and Canada.

Yangqin (Artistic Director & Hammered Dulcimer Soloist)

Yangqin Zhao is a yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer) virtuoso and Executive/Artistic Director of Melody of China (MoC). Ms. Zhao graduated with Honors from the Music Department of the Nanjing Normal University (Nanjing, China) and became the head of the faculty of Instrumental Music of the university. Ms. Zhao has performed internationally in Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore, Hong Kong, Mexico and Germany and performed with the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Women's Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony. Ms. Zhao co-founded Melody of China in 1993 and took over as Artist Director beginning in 2008.

Lan Tung (Erhu Bowed Fiddle Soloist)

Lan Tung is erhu soloist and artistic director for Sound of Dragon ensemble. Crossing between Vancouver’s new music, improvised music and world music scenes, Lan has appeared as a soloist with Orchestre Metropolitain (Montreal) and Symphony Nova Scotia, and as a soloist/composer with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Turning Point Ensemble, Upstream Ensemble (Halifax), Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (Vancouver & Toronto), Atlas Ensemble (Amsterdam & Helsinki), and Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taipei).  Lan’s compositions and performances have appeared on numerous CDs, winning an International Independent Music Awards and multiple nominations by JUNO, Canadian Independent Music Awards, Canadian Folk Music Awards, and Western Canadian Music Awards.