BIOGRAPHY
Yazhi Guo
Co-founder and founding President of the American Academy of World Music, performer, educator,and musical instrument reformer, active on the international stage. He is good at playing suona and a variety of Chinese and Western wind instruments. He is recognized by the industry as one of the best suona performers in the world, and he is committed to integrating Chinese music with world music. Graduated from the Traditional Music Department of the Central Conservatory of Music in1990, and stayed on to teach at the school; in 2000, he became the principal of suona of the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (HKCO); in 2012 he went to the United States to study, and also gave lectures and held lectures at Harvard University, Philadelphia University of the Arts and Berklee College of Music concert. He won the Pro Musicis International Award in New York in 1998 and the Hong Kong Artist of the Year Award in 2013. In 2015, he obtained the Artist Diploma of Berklee College of Music, and He has led the Berklee College of Music Band to visit China and Singapore many times.. He has recorded more than adozen of solo albums, many of which were released globally. The Suona active core developed by him won the second prize of Science and Technology Progress Award of the Ministry of Culture in 1993; he also developed Polyphonic Hulusi and and Guzheng transposition double-slot bridge, which has attracted much attention in the industry. In 2021, Co-founded the American Academy of World Music and the “Two Tune” World Music Ensemble in Henderson House.
Art achievement:
Guo's invention of the suona "Living Core" was awarded the "Second Prize for Progress in Science and Technology" by the Ministry of Culture, which made a major breakthrough in the performance of traditional suona in converting all modes and temporarily changing sounds. Zhao Songting, the master of the flute, praised it as: "Small invention, great achievement". Now "live core" has been used by many people in ensemble and solo. Guo used the suona live core to cooperate with many composers to develop new suona works, giving suona a new position.
Awards:
In 1998, Guo won the Pro Musicis International Award at Carnegie Hall in New York, the United States. The American "Qiao Bao" described it as "an important step for Chinese national wind music to go global". In July of the same year, he was selected as one of the most outstanding musicians in China, and he performed at the concert to welcome US President Clinton's first visit to China, which was highly praised. In 2013, Kwok won the "Hong Kong 2012 Best Artist Award (Music)" and the "Chinese Culture Communication Contribution Award" issued by the Confucius Institute in the United States. In 2016, he was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation by the Governor of Massachusetts and the Mayor of Boston in recognition of his strong support for local culture and arts.
Artistic resume:
Yazhi Guo studied jazz at the Berklee College of Music in the United States and obtained the Artistic Diploma in 2015. In 2013, he was invited to participate in the Cleveland Arts Festival in the United States and the Chicago Summer Music Festival in 2014. He has participated in the Chinese New Year Gala held by the Confucius Institute in various parts of the United States for several consecutive years, and received the Chinese Culture Communication Contribution Award from the institute.
In June and September 2016, two concerts of fusion jazz "One night in Beijing" and modern classical music "Desert River" were successfully held in Berkeley Recital Hall (Caf Hall) and the world-famous Jordan Hall (Jordan Hall) successively. Different styles of concerts.
In the 1990s, Guo was a popular suona musician in the Beijing recording studio, recording suona music for hundreds of films and TV shows, as well as for the Spring Festival Gala over the years. Kwok is also a popular Chinese musician in the Hong Kong pop music industry. He has been invited many times to be a special guest in large-scale concerts by Hong Kong singers such as "Da Ming faction" Huang Yaoming, Li Hackin and Liu Meijun. CCTV "National Music Fragrance" and Hong Kong TVB "Tuesday Archives" produced special introductions for him, CCTV International Channel's 2007 special topic: "Hong Kong Character Yazhi Guo - Suona is also fashionable"; In 2007, he was invited to be the first national instrumental music of CCTV The judges of the TV competition performed "One Night in Beijing" at the awards TV show, which was refreshing.
Over the years, as a soloist, Guo has often cooperated with orchestras and folk ensembles of many countries and regions around the world; he has premiered many modern-style suona concertos such as "Calling the Phoenix", "Trace No. 4" and "The Great Desert". He has published more than ten solo albums such as Rivers of Water, Yazhi Guo's Wind instrument World, and Listening to Birds. CCTV has a special report: Guo Yazhi, a character in Hong Kong, "suona is also fashionable". In 2016, RTHK traveled through China and the United States and produced an exclusive interview documentary "Master" for him. The Geneva Forum commented: "He is the focal point of the stage, impressive" and was called "China's Louis Armstrong" by Boston Radio.
