GUO Yazhi

Guo graduated from Central Academy of Music with flying colors in 1990, and was invited to stay on and teach. He joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra (www.hkco.org) in December 1999 as Suona Principal.

In 1993, his invention of a “Removable reed” which enables the playing of semitones on the suonaand expands its range for expressiveness won for him a Class Two Award for Technological Advancement by the Ministry of Culture.

In 1998, Guo went to New York to participate in the International Pro Musicis Awards, founded by the Frenchman, Father E. Merlet, on the occasion when it first included Chinese musical instruments as one of its categories. Guo walked away with the only major prize at the finals by playing six Chinese woodwind instruments: suona, guan, dizi etc. As reported by the Overseas Chinese Daily, USA “he has taken an important first step in opening the door to the world for Chinese folk music.” In the same year, he was selected by the Ministry of Culture as one of China’s most outstanding musicians, and was invited to give solo performances for the heads of the state.

Guo has given performing tours in many parts of Europe and Asia. Since 1991, he has performed in international music festivals in Germany, Holland, Denmark, France, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao and China, and given solo recitals in New York, Boston and Los Angeles.

In recent years, as a cultural ambassador of Hong Kong and a member of the HKCO, he was invited by the Hong Kong Government to give touring performances in Australia, Japan and the UK. He was an Artist-in-Residence at RTHK, and regularly gives recitals and talks at the universities in Hong Kong.Guo has been featured in documentaries on China’s CCTV, and has cut recordings for films and television drama series. He has also shared the stage with many famous vocalists, including Anthony Wong and Hacken Lee.