Ann Yao

Ann Yao graduated from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she studied the zheng (a long plucked zither) with Sun Wen-yan and He Bao-quan. In 1982 she toured the U.S. with the "Shanghai Musicians Group," and two years later she participated in the Olympic Arts Festival in Los Angles with the Central Traditional Ensemble of Beijing. Ann Yao moved to the U.S. in 1985 and has since appeared as zheng soloist and worked with Music From China, Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra, New Music Consort, among others. She has premiered works by Zhou Long, Chen Yi, Tan Dun, Qui Dong, and James Mobberley. Ann Yao was selected as a 1999-2000 Florida Folklife Apprenticeship Program Master Artist, and was among the featured artists in the documentary Mastering the Art. She currently works at Epcot of Walt Disney World as a soloist of Sixian.