Chinese Traditional Yang Qin Music

Anna Guo (Guo Min-qing), a former professor at the renowned Shanghai Conservatory of Music, has been teaching and playing the yang-qin for over 30 years. The release of her two solo albums -- Collection of Yang-qin Solos (1992)and Masterpieces performed by Yang-qin Masters (1995) -- established Guo as the leading yang-qin musician in China. Her two books on the art of playing the yang-gin -- New Yang-qin Music Compositions (1996) and Basic Course on the Yang-qin (1998) -- are essential texts for students of the instrument. Her CDs and books are available in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, where they are immensely popular. From 1985 to 1996, Guo was head of the Shanghai Women's Silk String Quintet, a successful Chinese music ensemble which gained a solid reputation worldwide. The quintet recorded two albums and toured extensively in Asia and Europe. In 1996, Guo immigrated to Canada and settled in Toronto, where she formed the Dunhuang Chamber Ensemble, which performs traditional Chinese music across North America. Her extraordinary performances and profound interpretation and knowledge of Chinese music have won Guo both critical and public acclaim as one of the world's best yang-qin players.