National Class One Conductor. As a conductor who has worked with all professional Chinese orchestras in Beijing, Shanghai, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong, Yan has won the acclaim of the music circles in China and abroad for his artistic and conducting talents.

Under his baton, and in collaboration with the famous composer Zhao Jiping, the Symphony Orchestra section of the China National Symphony Orchestra made the soundtrack recordings for such award-winning films as Raise the Red Lantern, Ballad of the Yellow River, and Five Girls and a Rope.

Yan was awarded the "Cultural Medallion (Music)" by the National Arts Council of Singapore in September 2001. Since 2004, he has been a Visiting Professor in many music conservatories. Yan was awarded a Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) by the Chief Executive of HKSAR in 2004 in recognition of his remarkable achievements in Chinese music as well as his efforts in promoting Chinese music.

"Meticulous execution with a charming stage presence."The Strait Times, Singapore

"The group's charismatic conductor, Yan Huichang, directed the afternoon with sophisticated e'lan."
Bruce Hodges, MusicWeb International

"Mr Yan Huichang is a most charismatic conductor." Christopher Fox, Chairman, ISCM 2002 British Section

So Chun-bo has been a driving force behind the local zheng music scene and has devoted all his energy and time to his chosen art form since 1966. He formed the first zheng ensemble in Hong Kong in 1971, and expanded the performing formats, other than the solo, to more than ten to enrich the expressiveness of the instrument. As an innovator of zheng music, he gave the first ever zheng recital in Hong Kong in 1974, and set up the Hong Kong stylistic school of zheng music in 2001.

So is currently Chairman of the Hong Kong Zheng Ensemble, Director of the Hong Kong Zheng Academy, a lecturer in zheng at the Department of Music of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and Honorary Director of the Zheng Professional Committee under the auspices of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society in China. His zheng compositions number more than 70, and his publications include A Complete Anthology of Chinese Zheng Music in two volumes.

Hon See-wah graduated from the Department of Ethnic Music of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, and worked, at different times of her career, with the Beijing Film Philharmonic Folk Orchestra and the China National Chinese Opera and Dance Drama Company, and taught at the China Conservatory and the Central Conservatory of Music.

Hon went to Hong Kong in 1981 and taught Chinese Music at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Since relocating to Canada in 1993, she has been dedicated to zheng performance and teaching of the instrument. In May 2005, she gave another solo recital in Vancouver. Her recent recording releases include two albums under the 'China Record Corporation' label.

Wang Zhongshan started learning the zheng when he was young, and was a student of Li Wanfen at the China Conservatory. He came first in the Zheng Section of the International Chinese Ethnic Instruments Solo Competition. He is currently a lecturer at the China Conservatory, the General Secretary of the Zheng Society under the Chinese Musicians' Association, the General Secretary of the Zheng Professionals Committee of the China Nationalities Orchestra Society and an executive member of the Orchestral Society.

Wang has developed new performing practices in zheng, including the new "rolling" fingering techniques. He was the first to wear four plectrums on the left fingers to perform, and developed the "multiple finger rolling" as well as "left-hand rolling" techniques. He is listed in The Essentials of Chinese Music and Who's Who in the Contemporary Music World of China .

Renowned zheng player Choi Ngar-si first joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 1977. Two years later, she left the Orchestra to take up teaching. But she rejoined the Orchestra in 1985, and currently holds the position as Education Executive of the Orchestra.

Choi has been teaching zheng at the Music Office, the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the Music Department of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra since 1979. She set up the "Choi Ngar-si Zheng Ensemble" in 1973. She compiled An Introduction to Zheng for publication, and has made many recordings as teaching aid. She is listed in the Who's Who of China's Contemporary Music Circles.