Dr. Paolo Bortolussi – flute
Dedicated to championing music by living composers, Dr. Bortolussi has premiered over 150 works for flute, including concerti written for him by Dorothy Chang, Jocelyn Morlock, and Aaron Gervais. Paolo is co-artistic director of the Nu:BC Collective, a new music ensemble in residence at the University of British Columbia. Beyond Shadows, Nu:BC’s debut CD, as well as Paolo’s recent solo release Israfel have received multiple nominations at the Western Canadian Music Awards. Raised in Halifax, Dr. Bortolussi is a graduate of the University of Ottawa and the Indiana University School of Music. He serves on the faculties of the University of British Columbia, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, and Trinity Western University, and has presented masterclasses across North America as well as in Korea and Taiwan. Paolo is principal flutist of the Vancouver Island Symphony where he is the driving force behind the Canadian Concerto Project, which has commissioned, premiered, and recorded five new concerti by Canadian composers for principal players of the orchestra.
A multiple award winner, Charlie masters a wide range of Chinese wind instruments. Charlie is the principal dizi player of the BC Chinese Music Orchestra, a member of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, and the co-founder of Pentatonics. As a soloist, Charlie has performed numerous dizi concerti and has performed on a number of CDs. In 2011, he premiered concerto grosso“Tsu-ur Song” (潮歌) by Dr. Ning Wang (王寧) with the Nu: BC and the BC Chinese Music Ensemble in a Canada-China collaboration. In the same year Charlie also performed Steve Chatman’s “Earth Songs” with Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Charlie studied the dizi with Jian Min Pan (潘建明) in Vancouver and Wei-Yu Tan (譚謂裕) in China.
Itamar is an internationally renowned composer, guitarist and pianist. To capture the essence of Itamar’s music is to be taken on a journey where different cultures meet in harmony. Itamar blends the delicateness of Middle Eastern music, the freedom found in Jazz, and the passion of Flamenco, creating a unique sound, all of his own. Recipient of the 2014 ACUM Prize for Special Achievement in Jazz & the lucrative 2014 Landau Prize, Itamar has shared the stage with such musicians as Omar Faruk Tekbilek, Tomatito, Avishai Cohen, Jean-Louis Matinier, Zohar Fresco, and others. Itamar has released 2 CDs with his quartet ‘The Adama Ensemble’ : “Desert Song” (2006) & “Hommage” (2010). His most recent release, “New Dawn” (2013) is a duet with Yshai Afterman (percussion), with special guest Antonio Serrano (harmonica). Itamar performs internationally and gives workshops and masterclasses to teach his unique approach to music and guitar playing. In 2014/15, Itamar performed in Canada, USA, Germany, Holland, Austria, Cyprus, Israel, India, Tunisia and Colombia. He is on faculty at the VSO school of music in Vancouver BC.
Zhimin was born in Beijing, China. She started learning the pipa at an early age. While studying as a student, she was chosen to perform for foreign states’ guests and leaders. Yu joined the China Broadcast Performing Arts Troupe and became very active in Beijing. Yu also performed in the Asian Arts Festival in Hong Kong and Japan. Later, she went to Japan again to organize a Chinese Folkloric Troupe. Yu was recognized as an ambassador of Chinese folk arts in Japan and often appeared on NHK television. Later, she immigrated to Canada where she continues her musical career. She plays in many groups and has performed in major cities in Canada and the United States and had concert tours in Britain, France, Holland, Hawaii, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. She has performed in festivals worldwide and appeared on many CDs and broadcast recordings for CBC radio and television, BBC, Songlines, and others.
Dailin Hsieh – zheng 謝岱霖 – 箏
Dailin graduated from Taiwan’s National Tainan University of the Arts and received a Master’s Degree in Ethnomusicology from National Normal University. Aside from receiving numerous awards for her artistry, she has premiered numerous groundbreaking works by Taiwanese and Canadian composers to critical acclaim. The founder of Taiwan’s Augmented Sixth Ensemble, Dailin has performed as a soloist with the Turning Point Ensemble, Allegra Chamber Orchestra, Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan & European/China/Canada tours), and the Taipei Municipal Chinese Orchestra. Dailin is a member of the JUNO nominated Orchid Ensemble, Naadaleela, BC Chinese Music Ensemble, Sounds Global Ensemble, and the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra. Dailin has toured in China, Singapore, Macau, Hong Kong, Japan, United States, Canada, Germany, Swiss, Luxembourg and Belgium. Dailin’s solo CD Zheng Image (2014) featured original Taiwanese compositions.
Crossing between Canada’s new music, improvised music and world music scenes, Lan is the artistic director of Orchid Ensemble, Sound of Dragon Society, and Proliferasian. Lan has appeared as soloist/composer with Orchestre Metropolitain, Vancouver Symphony, Symphony Nova Scotia, Turning Point Ensemble, Upstream Ensemble (Halifax), Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra, Atlas Ensemble (Amsterdam & Helsinki), and Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taipei). Lan’s music embodies the rhythmic intricacy from Indian influence, the sense of breath/space from Chinese tradition, and many years of experiences in interpreting contemporary compositions. Lan has released 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. Originally from Taiwan, Lan has studied graphic score with Barry Guy, improvisation with Mary Oliver, Hindustani music with Kala Ramnath, and Uyghur music with Abdukerim Osman, in addition to her studies of Chinese music since a young age.
Sungyong Lim – cello 林成容 – 大提琴
Sungyong graduated with honors from the renowned Yewon School and the Seoul School of the Arts before entering the Korea National University of Arts. Later he earned a VorDiplom, a Diplom (same as Bachelor, Master Degree), a konzertexamen’s (The “Konzertexmen” is highest degree available at music university in Germany) in cello performance from the Detmold Musik Hochschule. Sungyong graduated at the top of his class, with a comprehensive performance repertoire and with considerable teaching experience. Sungyong is a member of the Borealis String Quartet, who received the honor of “Distinguished Fellow of BC” for their applauded lectures presented there as visiting scholars at Green College@ UBC. Sungyong’s passion for teaching and education is of paramount importance. In Vancouver, he has coached countless students in schools, given masterclasses, and worked with the school orchestras. On tour, he has taught and been in residence at many universities and given master classes worldwide. Sungyong plays on a 1843 Enrico Ceruti made in Cremona.
Mark Ferris – violin
Graduated from Yale University, Mark is active in classical, jazz, and pop music as a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, and composer. A founding member of the jazz/rock Yaletown String Quartet, Mark has been the Concertmaster of the Vancouver Opera Orchestra for 20 years, Concertmaster of the John Avison Orchestra, a guest Concertmaster with the CBC Radio Orchestra, Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and is a Concertmaster/Mentor with the Vancouver Metropolitan Orchestra, and former Concertmaster of Lions Gate Sinfonia. He has played on Juno Award winning recordings by the CBC Radio Orchestra and Phil Dwyer, and has recorded/performed with Bryan Adams, The Eagles, Elvis Costello, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Marianas Trench, Wanting Qu, Swollen Members, Harry Manx, Dariush Eghbali, John Korsrud’s Hard Rubber Orchestra, Harry Stafylakis, Peggy Lee, Turning Point Ensemble, Sound of Dragon Ensemble, Vancouver Intercultural Orchestra, and Vancouver New Music. Mark has toured with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, Guangzhou, Macao), Winter Harp Ensemble, the Winnipeg Ballet, Vancouver Symphony, and CBC Radio Orchestra.
Jonathan combines his western percussion background with a fascination for Asian traditions to create a unique sound palette incorporating a myriad of instruments, techniques and styles. Active in genres from orchestral music to New Music, and world music, he has premiered over seventy chamber works with ensembles such as Vancouver New Music, The Fringe Group, Four Gallon Drum, Orchid Ensemble, and Ensemble Symposium. The principal percussionist with the Vancouver Island Symphony Orchestra (VISO) and a member of the Vancouver Inter-Cultural Orchestra (VICO), Jonathan has performed with numerous orchestras including Vancouver, Victoria, National Ballet and CBC Radio Orchestra. Jonathan has been a soloist with VISO, VICO, Taiwan’s Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra, and Kamloops Symphony Orchestra performing percussion concerti by Tan Dun (Water Concerto) and Jin Zhang (No Rush). Jonathan studied percussion at the University of Ottawa and University of British Columbia. He has studied Chinese percussion in Beijing, Arabic percussion in Cairo, Carnatic rhythm in South India, flamenco music in Spain, and Gnawa rhythms in Morocco.