Xia Boyan

Xia Boyan was Suona Assistant Principal with the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra. He started learning the suona under Professor Yang Xiusheng of the Jilin University of Arts when he was young. At ten, he won a Class One Prize in the Junior Section of the Northern China Performance Showcase held in Shijiazhuang. Later he entered the middle school affiliated to the Department of Music of the Jilin College of the Arts.

He was admitted to the Central Conservatory of Music in 1999 with outstanding results. He has received suona training under various virtuosi, such as Guo Yazhi, Niu Jiandang and Chen Jiaqi, with minor studies in guanzi under Hu Zhihou. While at the Conservatory, he was a Suona Principal with the China Youth Chinese Orchestra and a part-time musician with the China National Orchestra, with which he had performed on many occasions, cut records and made video recordings for CCTV.

Xia joined the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra in 2003, and was appointed Assistant Suona Principal in 2007. He is at the same time an adjunct faculty of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, teaching suona as a specialism.  He has toured with the Orchestra to the Mainland, Europe and America to attend major events on many occasions, and has frequently represented the Orchestra in performing solo and ensemble pieces.