Today's guest is Wendy Zhou and we talked about a very interesting instrument called the pipa, traditional Chinese music and Wendy's experience bringing Chinese music to the West and the bridging between traditions. We also talked about the healing power of music and her journey as an artist.

Wendy Zhou started learning the pipa at the age of five. She competed in the Youth Pipa Competition in Suzhou, China, and received great praise. After immigrating to Canada in 2001, she began her studies with renowned pipa soloist, Ms. Gui-Lian Liu. Shortly after, Wendy joined the B.C. Chinese Orchestra in 2002 and held the position of Section Leader. During this time, she won multiple awards in the Kiwanis Music Festival. In 2005, she was also awarded the S.K. Lee Scholarship for Ethnic Instruments and won third place in the Kiwanis Gala Concert. Wendy subsequently completed the performance level in the Chinese Conservatory of Music Exam for pipa in 2007 and was highly praised for her performing abilities and sense of music. In 2010, she co-established Spire and began to explore the boundary of Eastern and Western music through rearranging and composing multiple pieces for the fusion group. She is currently a Pipa teacher and a well-renown Pipa virtuoso in Toronto performing, recording, and organizing for various well-established organizations such as Canadian Opera Company, Royal Ontario Museum, Aga Khan Museum, Toronto Chinese Orchestra, Small World Music, Project Room 217, Babel Chorus, Lau Family Foundation Gala for kids with disability, Centre for Music Innovation, DD community connector, Good Kind Production, Music Mondays, Emerging Young Artists, and many more.